The Chronicles of Ash
by Bareback Jack
Summary: Our hero Ash travles the universe in an attempt to retrieve the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and return to his own reality. Along the way he will encounter new allies and enemies. Don't touch that dial, boom baby, Ash is back.
1. The Uncanny Ash

**The Chronicles of Ash**

Chapter 1. The Uncanny Ash

"Alkali Lake Research Facility, what a waste of time." Wolverine thought to himself as he looked back upon the ruined science laboratory that Professor X. had sent him to investigate. "Xavier said this was were I could find answers to my past, but there's nothing but a dried up lake bed." Wolverine let out a breath into the cold Canadian wilderness before walking over the hill and leaving Alkali Lake behind him. Logan began to trudge loudly through the snow toward the trail were he had left Cyclops' "borrowed" motorcycle.

"Damn I wish that trail was closer." Logan thought to himself as he blazed his way through the evergreens. He stopped suddenly at a rustling in one of the nearby branches. Logan locked his gaze in that direction and sniffed the air a couple of times. The commotion stopped for an instant, only to reveal a squirrel climbing out from the foliage, Wolverine chuckled at his nerves. Due to the X-Men's recent battle with Magneto, Logan had been on his edge this whole trip. He shook his head slightly as he continued on his way. He had managed to walk a couple of yards when several snow covered branches swung to the sides, erupting in a flurry of snow and pine needles. Logan immediately jumped back and drew his claws. Upon landing, he saw the source of the commotion.

"Hey bub," he said menacingly as he shook the snow out of his hair and puffed his cigar. "You gotta problem?" The man, clad in hunting attire, turned at the sound of Logan's voice. The X-Man looking into the man's eyes to see that they were completely glazed white as if this was not a man, but a walking corpse. The "zombie" let out a load growl as it sprung at the hero. Logan easily stepped aside, grabbed the back of it's head and violently smashed it's cranium into a tree. Logan stepped back as his assailant crashed into the snow sending a small cloud of snow powder into the air.

"What the hell was that?" Logan asked himself as he looked at the unconscious hunter. Just then, more tree limbs burst forward and two more "zombies" emerged from the foliage.

"Alright," Logan said as he reared back and prepared to strike. "What the hell are you?" The two monsters answered with a loud howl as they sprinted toward the mutant. "Lucky me." Logan smirked slightly as he leapt over the first assailant allowing him to smash into a tree and swiftly dodging the second and stabbing him directly in the left kneecap with his right set of claws. The "zombies" leg immediately gave out and he crashed to the frozen ground. The fist attacker returned and grabbed Logan by his left arm.

"Let go bub." Logan said in a tone of voice that would intimidate any man. The monster just stared back blankly before opening it's mouth and thrusting it's head forward in an attempt to bite. Logan spun around, grabbed the monster by the shirt and drove it's head into the rock hard dirt. The other "zombie" had by now limped back and jumped on Logan's back. Just as Logan reached around to stab the attacker, a deafening shot rang out, exploding the monster's head. Thick, dark blood splattered all over the white snow as Logan turned to see a man holding a sawed off, double barrel shotgun and a chainsaw attached to his right wrist.

"Yo," the mysterious stranger said to the other "zombie". "Let's rock." He fired up the chainsaw and reeled back. The monster sprinted forward only to be slashed from shoulder to hip, falling into two pieces.

"Oh yeah." the man said in satisfaction.

"Who are you?" Logan asked as he pointed a set of Adamantium claws at the stranger.

"The name's Ash." he replied. "Don't worry hombre, I'm on your side."

"Prove it."

"Did I not just blow two of the bastards away, or was that the other guy with a wood cutting device for a hand?" Logan lowered his claws.

"Logan." he said.

"Well alright," Ash said. "Now that the pleasantries are over, do you mind tellin' me were I am." Logan swiftly pushed Ash aside and thrust his claws directly into the face of the very first "zombie" who, had awoken and snuck up on Ash.

"First," Logan said. "What are those damn things?"

"I like to call them "deadites". A dark entity forced itself into your world after being banished from mine. It made me come along for the ride which, I have to say, blows."

"Well how does your sorry ass get back."

"I'm not exactly sure." Ash said as he scratched the back of his neck. "But I do know that I first have to find the book."

"Book?"

"The Necronomicon Ex Mortis. The Book of the Dead. It's what caused all this walking dead crap. So, were are we."

"We're in the Northern half of Canada." Logan replied.

"So that explains the snow and the trees," Ash paused for a moment and looked at Logan. "And the man with metal claws."

"It's a long story." Logan said.

"Ah, and I'm sure it's riveting," Ash said sarcastically. "But I need to keep looking for the book." Ash turned away only to be swung back around looking face-to-face with Logan.

"Watch it bub. I gotta a feelin' your mouth has got you in trouble before."

"Hey, take it easy ruffles." Ash said. "I'm sorry, you don't need to get so pushy."

"That's better. Now lets find that book and get your ass off of my world."

"Sounds good to me." Ash said as he and Logan headed back towards Alkali Lake. "Is everyone on this world as charming as you?"

Three hours had passed and there had been no sign of the Book of the Dead. Even with Logan's heightened senses, nothing had turned up.

"So you're a mutant huh?" Ash said breaking the long silence. "Born with super powers. The only thing I was born with was the power to make beautiful women fall madly in love with me." Logan chuckled before he suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.

"We're not alone." Logan said softly.

"What is it?"

"Don't know." Logan said after sniffing the air again. "It smells familiar, but tainted." he smelled the air again. "Sabretooth."

"Sabretooth?" Ash asked again.

"Another mutant, extremely powerful, savage and a healing factor like mine."

"That's comforting." Just then a massive dark figure leapt from behind some trees and landed directly behind the two heroes. Logan and Ash turned just in time to be throw backwards by a massive swinging forearm. Logan slammed hard into a boulder while Ash landed in some snow covered shrubbery.

"Whoa." Ash said as he slowly stood up and fired up his chainsaw. In the full moon light, Ash could see the massive being. Inhumanly large muscles seemed to be stacked on top of each other topped of by a long, blonde, shaggy mane and very sharp teeth. The hulking creature turned at Ash allowing him to see, gripped in his powerful right hand, the Necronomicon.

"It's never easy." Ash said before leaping out of the bushes. Sabretooth stared Ash down with his glazed eyes.

"Hey, teen wolf." Ash said. "It's time for obedience training." Sabretooth let out a deafening howl and lunged at Ash. The sound of his chainsaw rattled across the snow covered wilderness as Ash revved up the two cycle engine.

"Sit!" Ash yelled as he swung the saw and caught Sabretooth in his right thigh, carving a large gash in the mutants leg. Sabretooth tumbled to the ground. Ash turned around and, to his disbelief, watched the gaping wound close by itself.

"I may be in trouble." Ash said to himself as Sabretooth got up to his feet still clutching the book. The beast bounded toward him as Ash could only reel back once more. Just as Sabretooth was almost on top of him, Logan leapt in and speared the attacker with his shoulder. Ash let out a sigh of relief as he saw Logan kneeling on Sabretooth's back and stabbing him repeatedly. After four or five swift thrusts, Logan grabbed Sabretooth by the hair, pulled his head up and stabbed him once more in the neck. The snow had been stained red with blood by the time Ash arrived. Wolverine reached back for another thrust, just as Sabretooth rolled over and swung his left arm around, knocking Logan to the ground. As Sabretooth got up Ash noticed once more that his wounds were already almost healed. The leviathan then lunged at the rising Logan. Just then, a load shot rang out that toppled the savage mutant and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Boom baby." Ash said pointing his shotgun at Sabretooth who was clutching his chest for an instant while blood poured over his hand. "Come get some." Sabretooth let out a roar and rushed toward him. Logan once again made the save by stabbing the raving beast in the side and swinging onto his back.

"Ash!" Logan yelled as he repeatedly stabbed the mutant. "The trees!"

"Trees?" Ash asked himself before a look of realization and confidence appeared on his face. "Trees." Ash madly swung his chainsaw at a nearby evergreen, cutting at the trunk for all he was worth. With a load creaking noise, the tree began to fall. Logan jumped off, allowing Sabretooth to turn and see the pine careening towards him. With a loud crash, Sabretooth was pinned under the heavy trunk.

"Hey." Ash said as he walked over to the unconscious mutant. "My bark is way more dangerous than my bite." he stepped on Sabretooth's wrist and pried the book from his grasp. Sabretooth opened his eyes and the fog immediately cleared. He looked around for an instant before rolling the tree off of his torso and fleeing into the forest. Logan watched as Sabretooth disappeared into the thick foliage. He turned to see a mysterious blue light illuminating from behind Ash. With the book now in his possession, Ash was going home.

"See ya 'round." Ash said as the breeze began to pick up.

"Yeah kid," Logan replied. "It's been fun." the blue light began to swirl and started to inhale snow.

"Oh, by the way," Ash said. "You might want to hold on to something." Logan sunk his claws into a nearby tree just as Ash was swept into the vortex. The wind immediately subsided as Logan gazed into the open patch of snow were Ash had been standing. He let go of the tree and continued toward his motorcycle. When Logan got to his bike, he sat down and started it. He looked once more into the forest and, for an instant, hoped his friend was safe. Logan put the bike into gear and headed back to the X-Men.

Ash landed in the middle on an iron platform with a loud thud. It hurt. He looked into his left hand. The book was gone again.

"Great," Ash said to himself as he stood up to see a huge city with flying cars all around him. "Oh crap." he said as his eyes locked with a being his height with long green hair, very long ears that reached out horizontally and an orange ferret on his right shoulder.

"Oh crap is right, flesh bag." the ferret said just before the being he was sitting on grabbed his gun and smashed it into Ash's face. Ash fell to the ground and looked around at the armed guards that surrounded him before blacking out.


	2. Ash & Daxter

Chapter 2. Ash & Daxter

"What should we do with him?"

"I don't know. He just fell out of the sky in the middle of Haven City?"

"Yeah, he just appeared from nowhere."

"It may be a one of Errol's attempts to distract us from guarding our dark eco reserves." Ash was awakened from his tortured slumber by the sound of voices. "The Precursors know he doesn't need anymore, and know that he's controlling the metal heads, our resources are being rapidly lost to his army."

"Well, I say we find out for sure and feed him to the metal heads." that was the voice of the talking ferret.

"Take it easy, Dax. We'll start by talking to him when he wakes up." Just then the sound of frantic footsteps made their way toward the three voices.

"The metal heads are coming!" a female voice yelled.

"Let's roll Dax." the sound of four pairs of footsteps echoed down the hall, away from Ash, who had just forced himself to open his eyes. His jaw ached and his head throbbed.

"I feel like I got hit in the face by a gun." Ash groaned as he staggered to his feet. "Oh, yeah, I did." he rubbed his jaw and looked around at his small jail cell. He walked toward the cell door and peered out between the bars. Across the hall on a table, he discovered his gun and chainsaw.

"Well, at least they're still in one piece." He turned sharply at the sound of gunfire. "I'm glad I'm in here. As much as I like to kick ass, I'm gonna sit this one out." Just then, the concrete wall of his cell opposite the door exploded inward when two hulking, black beasts burst through. Ash squinted through the settling dust and vaguely made out the shape of two animals, he thought they were animals, walking on four legs, with dark purple eyes and very sharp teeth.

"Let me guess," Ash said. "You two intend to eat me." One of the beasts lunged at him. Ash quickly ducked and the animal crashed through the cell door. Ash raised his left hand and made a fist, preparing to fight the remaining beast.

"Uh... no." Ash said before he darted out the open door and grabbed his shotgun. He turned and pointed the gun directly in the face of the black animal.

"Hungry fella?" Ash asked the animal. "Eat up." he pulled the trigger and sent pieces of black and purple flesh and liquid spewing back into the cell. Ash strapped on his chainsaw and fired it up. He raised it above his head and impaled the first animal through the chest.

"So," Ash said to himself. "These must be metal heads. I like 'em better as wall art." Ash looked around at the black and purple stained walls before making his way outside. He gazed around and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a war torn city full of flying vehicles, black monsters and people with extremely long ears. Looking into the chaos, Ash noticed the being that had hit him in the face upon his arrival. Ash rubbed his still aching jaw as he started out of his cell intending on returning the favor. As he made his first step outside, a stray gun blast struck right next to him, sending him sailing through the air. He landed hard on a steel ramp, gazing up at the smoke filled sky.

"Maybe I'll introduce myself later. Yeah, that's what I'll do." Ash quickly stood up and fired a shot into a stampeding metal head. He then swung his saw around, lopping off another's head and cutting through a second's front legs. "Watch your face." he said as the metal heads jaw slammed into the steel. Ash jumped off of the platform and noticed a crashed, but still running, dune buggy-looking vehicle. He ran over to it, lifted the driver's dead body out and sped into a herd of metal heads. Ash was nearly thrown through the windshield upon the impact with the massive creatures.

"Jak, look!" a female voice rang out. Jak turned his head at the fleeing Ash.

"Yeah baby!" Ash yelled after greasing another metal head. He turned to the left and locked eyes with Jak. "Hey!" he yelled. "I've got something for ya!" Ash produced his middle finger and drove off into the desert surrounding the city.

"Well, that was rude." the orange animal said as it jumped onto Jak's shoulder.

"Yeah Dax." Jak replied as he looked around the ravaged city. Ash had taken out enough metal heads to persuade the rest to retreat. "Keira, you alright?"

"I guess so." she replied. "It looks like we were wrong about him."

"It appears so." Jak said. "I suppose we'd better go get him before he dies in the wasteland."

"Why should we risk our necks for his?" Daxter yelled into Jak's ear. "Did you not see the insulting gesture he directed toward you? You'd have to be blind not to see that bird."

"Dax." Jak warned. "You don't have to go if you don't want."

"Of coarse I'm goin'." Dax said as he looked at Keira and raised his left eyebrow. "As long as angel face here is joining us." Kiera giggled as the three boarded a dune vehicle and took off after Ash.

Several miles into the desert, Ash's vehicle had just sputtered to a stop.

"Apparently, bad gas mileage is a universal problem." Ash said to himself as he grabbed his shotgun and chainsaw. He began walking up a large hill as a hard, dry, wasteland wind began to blow. When Ash reached the top he was amazed to see a city that had been erected in the middle of this harsh terrain.

"This is convenient." Ash said as he wiped sweat off of his brow. "Perhaps to convenient." Ash continued the last mile until reaching the heavy wooden doors of the wall surrounding the city. Ash looked around for a knob or a latch of some sort, but to no avail. He then knocked hard on the thick oak door and after a few moments, a small slot slid open.

"Who goes there?" A gruff voice asked from behind the door.

"The name's Ash. I could use some shade and a tall, cool glass of water."

"I don't like the way you look. No admittance." The voice said before slamming the little slot shut.

"Sent away because of my devilish good looks. There's a first time for everything." Ash strapped on his chainsaw and began to cut through the door. A large section fell inward when Ash had finished.

"Knock, knock." Ash looked over at the cowering gate keeper. "You want some too?"

"No, please. Leave me alone." The long eared man yelled as he ran off. Ash began to walk down a dirt street. Looking around he saw houses made of stone and people quickly running indoors when he looked their way.

"Friendly place." Ash said as he continued walking. "Evolution must have forgotten this dump."

"Halt!" A voice yelled from behind Ash. He turned sharply to see two long eared men walking toward him followed by three guards bearing very large swords. One of the men was about Ash's size, while the other was much bigger. "You are not welcome here."

"Here now, don't get your panties in a bunch." Ash replied. "I just thought I'd play tourist to your charming little town here. Oh, and I needed a break from all my metal head slaying"

"Metal heads huh?" The bigger one said. "You don't look like you'd last two seconds against one."

"Hey, I don't want any trouble, but if you do, step on up." The bigger one laughed as he took a step towards Ash.

"Kliever." the other one said. "He may be telling the truth." he turned to Ash. "I am King Damas. If you are a destroyer of metal heads, I will allow you to live. If you can survive the arena."

"Okay." Ash replied. "I'm a pro at battles to the death."

"Show him to the palace."

"Yes, your majesty." Kliever said. He then slapped Ash on the back, hard. "We're gonna have fun with you."

"Touch me again, and I'll slap you with this." Ash raised his chainsaw into Kliever's face.

"Yeah, yeah." Kliever said as they all walked toward the palace, led by Damas.

An hour or so later, Ash was standing behind a slowly rising door. Ash had finally been given some water in a very poorly made clay cup.

"Huh." He said to himself. "Tastes lake pee." The door finally opened and Ash strutted out into a packed arena. Hundreds of people were sitting around a blood stained, sand covered, battle ground.

"This man wishes to become a citizen of Spargus City." Damas yelled to the crowd. "If he is able to survive the challenge, he shall be allowed to join us. If not, his death will be an honorable one."

"He's a real positive role model for today's youth." Ash muttered to himself. "At least they let me keep my saw." A door at the other end of the arena began to open.

"If you can withstand the attack of six convicted criminals," Damas said. "You will become one of us."

"Hey King Dumbass, this isn't a fair fight." Ash yelled. "There's only six of them." Ash fired up his chainsaw and prepared to fight. The door opened and Ash's opponents revealed themselves.

"Good thing this ain't a beauty pageant." Ash said as he beheld the biggest, ugliest and toughest looking beings he had ever seen. Each of the wearing only pants and boots, two were missing an eye and all of them were covered in scars and tattoos. The all were also each clutching a huge sword in one hand.

"Time to go to work baby." Ash said as he revved up his saw. The six opponents charged at once, holding up their weapons and screaming as they ran. Ash skillfully dodged four sword swipes and swung his saw around, catching the last two attackers, both in the stomach. Blood and entrails poured out of the abdomens as they collapsed, dead. Ash picked up a sword, blocked a slash with it, and ran his saw directly into his attackers knee. When his opponent collapsed, Ash buried the sword into his fallen foe's back. Ash was then knocked to the ground by a shoulder to his side. He quickly rolled out of the way of a sword strike, thrust his saw up and impaled his attacker in the heart. The last two charged toward him as he revved up his saw and reeled back. The two were almost on him when two yellow projectiles came from behind Ash and struck them both in the head. Their knees buckled and they fell to the ground.

"Jak!" Damas yelled as Ash turned to see the guy that hit him in the face, his orange ferret, a hot slice of woman and a short green guy with a log on his head.

"What do you think you are doing?" Damas asked upon making his way down into the arena.

"Helping out a friend." Jak replied. "Looked like you could use a hand." He said when he reached Ash.

"You're right." Ash said right before punching Jak with his left hand. "There, now we're even." Jak staggered back a step or two. He then grabbed his jaw and nodded.

"Agreed." Jak said. "Any one who's an enemy of Errol is a friend of mine."

"Errol?" Ash asked.

"A half man, half robot. He is a lunatic using the metal heads to try and control the world."

"A robot named Errol, metal heads and a talking ferret. This is one screwy world you've got here."

"Hey!" the orange animal yelled. "I'm not a ferret, I'm an offsel and the name's Daxter. Got it tough guy."

"Yeah, whatever." Ash said turning to Jak. "Who's your friend here?"

"I'm Samos the sage." said the green man. "I am a master of green eco and..."

"Not you." Ash said, his eyes diverting to Keira. "Her."

"My name's Keira." She said as she blushed. By now Damas had made it down to the group.

"Jak, what's going on?" He asked upon arrival.

"When this man escaped from us, he killed over a dozen metal heads on his own." Jak replied.

"Really." Damas said as he produced Ash's shotgun. "What's your name son?"

"The name's Ash."

"How did you get here."

"A dark magic swept me into your world, which, now that I look at it." He glanced at Keira. "Ain't so bad."

"Dark magic?" Samos said. "That must be what Errol is using to control the metal heads along with dark eco." Ash grabbed his shotgun.

"So let's go." Ash said.

"We've been working on a small infiltration mission to try to stop him." Jak said. "You in?"

"Does that little orange guy smell like old ass?" Ash said. "Of course I'm in."

"Listen, no-ears." Dax said. "I crap stuff that smells sweeter than you."

"Hey don't do it now." Ash said. "Unless Jak has a spare shirt." Ash and Daxter glared at each other.

"That's enough you two." Samos said. "We have plans to make."

"Are we all clear on what to do?" Jak asked ash he piloted an aircraft directly towards Errol's flying base of operations.

"First these guys draw the fire from his defenses," Ash said gesturing toward the fleet of small warships around them. "Then Jak, Daxter and I go after Errol, while Keira shuts down his base. I think we got it." Errol's base began to open fire on them. Jak did some skillful flying, eluding the blasts, as they made their way to the entrance. Ash looked back to see two of their allies' ships explode, spiraling to the ground in a blaze.

"Let's get the bastard." Jak said as he launched a rocket and blew opened the entrance door. Jak dodged a couple more shots before landing in the fortress. Two heavy backup doors immediately slammed shut behind them.

"Let's go." Ash said. "Good luck, Keira."

"Take care of yourself." she said before planting a kiss on Ash's cheek and running of to find the main computer.

"I still got it." Ash, Jak and Daxter preceded cautiously down a long hallway. Suddenly, a small hatch opened up on the wall and several dog sized metal heads scurried out. They looked like insects and the crawled toward the trio. Ash quickly took two out with a shotgun blast and three more with a second shot. Jak rapidly fired off several shots from his morphgun to handle the rest.

"That's a hell of a gun." Ash said.

"It gets the job done. See these?" Jak said pointing to two small rockets on the side of his gun. "These were made special for Errol. Upon impact, they'll cause his circuitry to short out. You're on Dax."

"You got it." Dax leapt off of Jak's shoulder and scurried through the hatch. Ash and Jak continued down the hall. They stopped when they heard a clanking noise. It sounded like gears moving. Just then the floor dropped open, and the two slid down a long chute before landing on top of each other on the cold steel floor.

"Jak, it's so kind of you to visit." a menacing voice said. "And you brought a friend, how nice."

"Not as nice as kicking your metal ass pal." Ash said as he looked at Errol. His entire body was a blood red machine. The only organic part appeared to be the left side of his face. Everything else was made up of steel and wiring, and in the center of it all, fastened securely, the Necronomicon.

"Hey, Carol." Ash said. "That's my book."

"It's Errol! If you want your precious book, come and get it."

"You heard him, Ash." The two pointed their guns at Errol. Just then, Errol fired two rockets that exploded in front of the two knocking them back. When the smoke cleared, they saw that the entire room had filled with metal heads of all shapes and sizes. The two stood up and began to madly shoot into the metal head herd. Metal heads were falling left and right under the shooting melee. Ash began to slash his chainsaw side to side, splattering black and purple blood everywhere.

"Jak!" Ash yelled. "Take your shot!" Jak loaded a rocket and took aim. Just as he pulled the trigger, a metal head knocked him down, causing the rocket to miss. Jak's gun flew across the room as he was attacked by several metal heads. Ash saw what was happening but was unable to help due to the onslaught that he was having to hold off. Suddenly, several metal heads were thrown to all sides by a dark purple explosion, it was Dark Jak.

"Remind me never to piss you off." Ash said as Dark Jak, with amazing speed, slashed apart dozens of metal heads in just seconds. He then leapt into the air and landed hard, causing a dark purple wave that liquefied each metal head it touched. Ash was thrown back by the wave and landed right in front of Errol. Ash got to his feet. He looked at Jak, who was continuing to take apart metal heads. Ash turned back to Errol.

"Time to dance." Ash buzzed his saw around but his attack was blocked. Errol pulled his mechanical arm back to throw a punch. Ash raised his shotgun and blasted Errol in the right shoulder. Sparks flew from his injury as Erroll staggered backward. Ash pointed the gun at Errol's face, only to have it knocked out of his hand by a metal head. Ash quickly cut the beast in two and slashed at Errol once again. His attack was once again blocked, but what Ash did not see, was that Errol had extended a blade from his right hand. He thrust it upward, stabbing Ash deep in the abdomen. Ash pulled away from the blade and fell to the ground.

"I'll make your death quick." Errol said as Ash looked at the blood gushing wound.

"Not quick enough." Ash said as he grabbed his gun and shot Errol in the right side, barely missing the book. With sparks flying, Errol approached Ash again and kicked away his gun. He raised his hand with the blade above his head, ready to deliver the death blow. Just as he was about to strike, a huge metal head crashed into him sending them both flying into the wall.

"Ash," Jak said after returning to regular Jak. "Are you alright?"

"You know, I got a strange feeling. It feels like I'm dying."

"Not for long." Jak closed his eyes. When he opened them they had turned bright white and his body began to glow a light blue. Jak put his hand on the wound and it healed instantly. Ash looked in amazement before Jak was struck in the face by Errol's metallic hand. Jak flew across the room and hit the floor, unconscious.

"Hey big fella'." Ash said as he rose from the ground. "Ding, ding. Round two." Ash punched Errol in his organic eye and cut into his left side with his saw. Errol staggered back as Ash stepped toward him.

"Head's up Mr. Roboto." Daxter fell from an air duct and landed on Errol's head. Daxter was holding a metal rod that he rammed into Errol's back. Errol began to twitch uncontrollably and Daxter was thrown to the ground. "Ash, use the gun." Ash grabbed the morphgun and loaded a rocket.

"Smile, you son of a bitch." Ash launched the last rocket. It struck Errol in the chest, dislodging the book and knocking Errol to the ground. Errol's body immediately stopped moving as he was shut down.

"Come on guys!" Keira said. "I've shut everything down. This place is gonna crash." Daxter grabbed the book and jumped on her shoulder while Ash picked up Jak, slung him over his shoulder and ran off.

"This is not over!" An immobile Errol yelled. "You haven't seen the last of me."

"What a terrible cliche." Ash said as he and the others boarded an aircraft and flew away. Ash looked behind them to see Errol's warship crash and burn.

"Thanks for the help." Jak said. "We could not have done it without you."

"It was my pleasure." Ash replied. "But if I ever come here again, don't hit me with a gun." Ash turned to Daxter. "You're not so bad for a fur ball."

"You're not so bad yourself there, tough guy. See ya 'round." Daxter replied.

"And you," Ash said to Keira. "Gimmie some sugar baby." Ash grabbed her around the waist, pulled her close and gave her a famous Ash kiss. When he finished she hugged him around the neck before pulling a small brown bag out of her pocket.

"It's green eco." She said. "It has healing powers and may be usefull someday." Samos approached and handed Ash the book. The blue vortex appeared again as Ash prepared for his journey.

"Take care of yourself." Ash said to Keira before he was whisked away by the vortex.

Ash landed with a loud splash if three foot deep water. He looked into his left hand to see the book was missing once more.

"Were the hell does that God damn thing go?" Ash asked himself before looking around. He was on the outskirts of a city. Not one with flying cars, but a normal human city. "Finally, something familiar." Ash turned around and looked behind him. "That's not normal." he said as he beheld a giant building in the shape of a "T".


	3. ClAsh of the Titans

**Chapter 3. ClAsh of the Titans**

"Would you like to watch a movie?" Starfire asked, obviously bored.

"No."

"Would you perhaps like to go out for the pizza?"

"We're supposed to watch the tower while the others are gone." Raven replied dryly as she stared into the large monitor.

"When will our friends return from the tournament of heroes?"

"I have no idea." Raven turned and looked at her teammate. "Robin left us with the responsibility of keeping watch on everything and that's what we're going to do."

"If you say so." Starfire floated out of the room with her head hanging low. She made her way out into the T.V. room and hovered in front of the large window. She peered out into the horizon and then back to the beach of their little island, upon which the tower was build. She looked closer and noticed something moving toward the tower. It was a person.

"Raven!" she yelled. "Someone is approaching." Raven quickly came out and examined the situation. Starfire opened the window and the two flew down to the intruder. Raven used her telekinesis to steal Ash's weapons.

"What the Hell?" Ash said as he watched his chainsaw and shotgun float up into the air. He then laid his eyes on the two young heroines gliding down towards him.

"Sweet statutory." he muttered to himself when they were near.

"Who are you?" Raven asked threateningly while still holding Ash's weapons up high. Ash looked at Starfire, who's eyes were glowing green, as well as her clenched hands. Ash raised his arms.

"I'm not here to fight. I was dropped in the water by a book."

"A spell book?" Raven asked, her interest peaked.

"Sort of. More of an evil, end-of-the-world type of book."

"Let's get him inside." Raven said to her teammate.

"What is it?" Starfire asked as the three entered the tower.

"I have been sensing a dark magic at work for some time now. It must be the same power that brought him here."

"By the way, my name's Ash. What do they call you two lovely ladies?" Raven rolled her eyes.

"I am Starfire." the beautiful red head replied. "I am from the planet of Tameran. This is my teammate Raven."

"Charmed." Raven said dryly.

"Is it cold in here, or is it just you." Ash said as Starfire retrieved his weapons. "Thanks darlin'. Now, how about finding the book and getting me home."

"That would probably be a good place to start." Ash and Starfire turned to see Raven looking out of the window. They shifted their eyes in the direction of her's and saw that the sunny and pleasant horizon had just turned black with storm clouds. The thunderheads just lingered there, growing steadily larger, with random bolts of lightning striking the rooftops of buildings in the heart of the city.

"What gave you that idea?" Ash said as he strapped on his saw.

"Shall we investigate?" Starfire asked.

"Well, I'm not one to skip out on saving the day." Ash said as Raven rolled her eyes once more. Starfire grabbed Ash under his arms and the three flew off towards the gathering storm.

"So, this book you speak off is capable of possessing innocent people?" Starfire asked Ash as they neared the storm clouds. "That's terrible."

"Tell me about it." Ash replied. "I even lost my hand to the bastards."

"Maybe you can use one of Cyborg's hands when we return. He has lots of them."

"I bet he does." Ash said while smiling at Raven. "With girls like you around, I'd need all the hands I could get." Starfire giggled while Raven ignored him.

"Look sharp." Raven said. "We're almost there." They neared the center of the storm. Above they noticed the black clouds had begun to swirl as the lightning strikes increased in frequency and intensity. Below them they saw a dark figure standing directly beneath the vortex of storm clouds. In a flash of light, the figure was revealed.

"Slade!" Starfire and Raven yelled as Ash started his chainsaw.

"Ah, the Titans." Slade said in an emotionless, dark tone. "And, who is this? A Titan alumni, or a trainee?" Tucked under his arm, was the Necronomicon.

"The name's Ash, and you're screwin' with reality pal. On top of that, that's my book you have nestled in your bosom." Starfire and Raven landed on the roof and prepared for battle.

"I've taken somewhat of a fancy to this book. You're to late." Slade peered up. "It has begun." The swirling clouds opened into a dark tunnel, and out of it flew several glowing green spheres. Behind them, hundreds of flying deadites. Raven and Starfire gasped at the sight of the hideous beasts. Ash reacted a little different.

"Shit."

The deadites spread all over the city while the green spheres sought innocent people to make their vessels. Controlling it all, Slade.

"Alright buddy." Ash said after blasting a deadite. "Close that up or things are gonna get messy." Raven and Starfire began fighting off deadites while Slade handed the book to another flying demon, who then carried it into the portal. Ash took a step toward Slade.

"Ash!" Starfire yelled after blasting a deadite with a starbolt. She began to fly towards him.

"Leave him." Raven said. "We have to take care of these demons." Raven used her telepathy to pick up two cars and smash several deadites together. Starfire looked down to see that a mob of possessed people had gathered on the street below. On the roof, Ash was attacking Slade with his saw, but to no avail. Slade was way to fast. Ash whirled his saw around in a huge swing. Slade swiftly dodged and skillfully undid the clasp that connected the gas powered weapon to Ash's wrist. The saw fell to the ground, sputtered a bit and then died. Ash, out of breath, looked up at Slade. He was standing with his arms crossed, breathing normally.

"Your skills leave much to be desired." He said calmly. Ash took a deep breath.

"Desire this." Ash pointed his gun and fired twice. Slade took a hit in his upper left chest and one on the right side of his face, denting his armor and his mask. Blood trickled out of the slots in the mouth of Slade's mask.

"How'd ya like the taste of that?" Slade staggered back a step or two, but with almost inhuman speed, lunged forward, and tore Ash's gun out of his hand.

"I've had enough fooling around." Slade said as Ash made a fist with his only hand.

"Okay big guy. You wanna get tough, let's get tough." Above Starfire and Raven were powerless to help. They were destroying deadites as fast as they were appearing, but they just kept emerging from the portal. Back on the roof, Ash was struggling to stay on his feet. Slade was just to fast and skilled for Ash to fight hand-to-hands. Ash was swinging with all his might, but was unable to land a punch. Out of breath and fatigued, Slade was able to pick his adversary apart. He threw several consecutive punches to Ash's chiseled jaw. The hero staggered back and managed to block an attack, only to be kicked in the ribs. Ash clutched his aching side, giving Slade ample opportunity to swing with a left hook and catch Ash in the nose, shattering it. Blood poured down Ash's mouth and chin. Slade once again kicked hard at his ribs, this time snapping two and cracking three. Ash's knees buckled and he collapsed, looking up at Slade with two blackened eyes. He was then picked up by Slade's powerful arms.

"Goodbye, hero." Ash spit blood into Slade's face right before he was cast of the roof. He tumbled around and saw the mob of possessed people he was heading for. Their mouths drooling in anticipation of the feast that was headed for them. His ribs surged in pain as his descent was abruptly halted.

"I have you." Starfire said right before Ash blacked out.

Ash forced his eyes open. He could barely see through all the swelling. His body ached and he tasted blood. His agony was subsided by Raven.

"I put a healing spell on you." She said. "It won't heal you completely, but it will ease the pain and fix your bones." Ash's eyes began to focus on the heroines.

"Thanks darlin'." he said as he sat up. He noticed that both women were covered in blood, cuts and bruises.

"We were able to retrieve your weapons." Starfire said as cheerfully as she could.

"Well hoo-god-damn-ray." Ash said sarcastically. "apparently you were watching something else. I got my ass handed to me by some masked fruitcake."

"We thought you could use some good news." Raven said. "Starfire fitted one of Cyborg's hands to you." Ash glanced at his new right hand. He was quickly recharged at the sight and ready for another crack at Slade. He grabbed a steel bar on his bed frame and bent it effortlessly.

"Groovy." Ash said after testing his hand. "We need to take down Slade and get back my book. But first, what do you have to eat around here?"

Slade was staring up into the portal, the open Necronomicon in hand, watching it steadily grow bigger. He glanced down at his growing army of deadites, made of possessed people and flying demons from another dimension.

"My children," he said in satisfaction. "With you, I shall control everything."

"Hey tin man." Ash said as he landed on the roof behind Slade. "How's your face." Slade closed the book and touched his dented mask.

"Better than yours." Slade replied to Ash's still battered face. "Although, I admire your courage, the outcome will be the same as before."

"It'll take more than a horrendous beating to spoil these good looks." Ash revved up his saw. "Girls go!" Raven and Starfire accelerated toward Slade. Starbolts caused him to leap aside as Raven tore open the roof. Slade plummeted down and crashed through a solid oak desk. He sat up to see that he had dropped the Necronomicon and it had been buried under a pile of books that had fallen off of a shelf. Slade began to crawl toward the stack of literature until a shotgun blast stopped him. He looked down at the smoking hole in the carpet.

"I don't miss twice, baby." Slade stood up and dusted himself off. Ash turned to the Titans.

"You girls can handle yourselves. Mom and Dad gotta talk." Ash jumped into the room with Slade while Raven and Starfire flew toward the swarm of deadites.

"This time you won't be so fortunate to live." Slade said confidently.

"Come get some." Ash whirled his saw around madly only to have his attack dodged again. After several more failed attempts, Slade stepped back.

"Have you learned nothing?"

"Oh, I've learned plenty." Ash lunged forward and Slade once again disarmed him of his saw. As the gas powered weapon fell to the ground, Ash took a quick back swing and caught Slade in the jaw with his robotic hand. Ash threw several more punches, denting Slade's mask yet again. Slade staggered back into the wall as Ash swung with all his might. His punch was ducked under and Ash's hand went right through the wall. Slade turned to the pile of books, and as Ash struggled to free his hand, he found the Necronomicon. Slade leapt up through the hole in the ceiling and ran to the middle of the roof. Ash grabbed his saw and climbed up in pursuit. Outside, Slade looked on in disbelief as he saw his entire deadite "air force" wrapped up in chain link fence and sailing up into the air. Starfire concentrated all of her energy into a single massive starbolt that eradicated all of the unworldly beast. He then looked down on his "militia" and witnessed Raven cast a spell that expelled every deadite soul back into the vortex. The unbound people all collapsed in exhaustion as Slade glanced at Ash.

"Game over sparky." Ash wound up and smashed Slade with a hard right hand that sent him into the portal, disappearing forever. The book landed at Ash's feet.

"Well girls," he said as he bent down to pick up the book. "Time for me to go." As Ash touched the book, he was not swept away. Absolutely nothing happened.

"Bravo," Ash turned to see Slade standing on the far end of the roof. "Congratulations on defeating my substitute, but, did you think I would let you win so easily?"

"Easily?" Ash said silently to himself. Slade opened the real Necronomicon and looked up into the portal. Lightning struck it's pages and a dark, crawling fog emerged from within. It snaked it's way up Slade arms. Ash and the Titans watched as it was absorbed into his body. His muscles began to quiver as they started to grow at an alarming rate. In a matter of seconds, Slade's size had tripled and was still increasing. He looked down at the heroes.

"We may be in trouble." Ash said as Starfire and Raven looked on, shocked. Slade lumbered toward them with his hulking mass.

"He's not used to his size." Raven said. "If we're gonna take him, we have to do it now." Without hesitation, Starfire flew forward and lashed out with repeated starbolts. Slade was only knocked back two steps before he easily swung his arm around and knocked Starfire to the ground.

"This power is unbelievable." Slade said in triumph. Raven mentally picked up two giant air conditioners and sandwiched Slade between them. He simply tore the machines apart with his bare hands. He threw a large piece of metal in Raven's direction. Ash valiantly dove and tackled the Titan out of harms way. When he landed, something was ground into his hip. It was the bag of green eco. Ash got an idea.

"Girls!" he yelled. "Buy me some time. I have an idea." Raven and Starfire circled around Slade, bombarding him with starbolts and thrashing with telekinetic talons. Slade's size prevented him from being able to strike his assailants. On the other side of the roof, Ash opened the panel on the palm of his robotic hand.

"I hope this works." Ash said to himself as he poured the magical green mist into to hand and closed it up. The circuitry of his hand lit up as the magic raced through them and the once blue lights that adorned the knuckles flickered into an intense, bright green. Ash smiled as he rose to his feet.

"Starfire!" Ash yelled. The Titan quickly flew to his side. "Fire away." Starfire grabbed Ash under his arms, swung him around and propelled him at Slade like a bullet. Slade turned just in time to be struck in the face by a magically charged punch. A green cloud was emitted that soaked into Slade's flesh. Ash continued his assault, each strike releasing more magic into Slade's body. The two toppled over as Slade was racked with pain. The good magic and the bad magic were waging war inside of him.

"Lights out baby." Ash smashed his fist into Slade's head violently. His robotic hand exploded on impact and the last of the green eco entered Slade's body. The evil, black mist floated away from Slade and back into the portal, closing it. Slade's unconscious body immediately returned to normal size while Raven and Starfire grabbed Ash before he collapsed.

Back in front of Titan's Tower, the three triumphant heroes were standing on the beach.

"Well girls," Ash said. "It's been fun, and...uh, thanks for the hand. Pun intended." they had given him another robotic appendage.

"We will miss you friend." Starfire said as she gave Ash a hug.

"Yeah," Raven added. "Believe it or not." She presented the book to Ash.

"See ya 'round." Ash grabbed the book and was once again carried off to another world.

A short while later, Raven and Starfire were in the living room watching T.V. when Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy returned.

"Anything happen while we were gone?" Robin asked. Raven and Starfire looked at each other before they told their story of the strange man that helped them save the city.

Ash sat up and looked around. He was in the middle of a dark street surrounded by homes that seemed uninhabited. Not surprisingly, the Necronomicon was missing again. Ash stood up and began to walk down the street.

"Not a friendly looking place." Ash said to himself as he noticed that there were no cars in the driveways and not a light on anywhere. After walking a bit, he finally came across a street sign and read the name out loud to himself.

"Huh, kind of a lack luster name. Elm Street."


	4. Freddy vs Jason vs Ash

Chapter 4: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash

"Huh, kind of a lackluster name. Elm Street." Ash stood on the sidewalk after reading the sign looking around the seemingly deserted town. "Just a guess, but something evil is probably coming and I have to stop it." Just as he got done speaking he heard maniacal laughter. "Ten points for me." He looked around but could not find the being responsible for the noise.

"Hey, buddy." a voice said. "Up here." Ash looked up at the moon. There was a face in it. A hideously burned face, staring down at him. "Hello, Ash."

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I know everything about you, and this." The face faded to reveal the Necronomicon.

"Great." Ash said. "Why can't it be in the hands of a super model or something less life threatening."

"You think I'm scary know, wait'll you experience a full blown nightmare courtesy of Freddy Krueger." The face in the moon disappeared. Ash turned around to see a man standing at the far end of the street with the book in tow.

"The only thing scary about you is your dollar store Christmas sweater."

"You'll be made to forget about that soon enough." Freddy reached his right hand out in front of him. The light from a nearby street lamp cast a long shadow of his clawed hand.

"What's this, shadow puppetry. I don't have time to tangle with a victim of fashion sense." Ash grabbed his gun.

"The only victim here is you. Sweet dreams." With that Freddy's shadow lunged at Ash. The instant Ash was struck in the chest, green sparks exploded from the impact point and the shadow crawled back to Freddy as if it were in pain. Ash watched as the sparks hit the ground and burn out.

"Whoa. What was that all about?" he quietly asked himself. Across the street, Freddy looked at his clawed hand. He felt the sting of pain coursing through it.

"This is my world. You can't do that." Freddy lunged his shadow at Ash again with the same result. He tried once more, but this time Ash caught it in the grip of his robotic hand. He then pointed the barrel of his gun at it and fired. The shadow hand fell to the ground, flopped around a bit then disappeared.

"Now," Ash cocked his gun. "How about my book."

"I don't know how you did that, but it doesn't matter. I'll gut you the old fashion way. As for this," Freddy held the book aloft before it vanished in a puff of black smoke. "I intend to use it to resurrect myself back into the living and still be able to invade dreams. I'm already strong enough to kill in nightmares thanks to Jason, but you, I'll take care of with my bare hands."

"Bring it on, Shirley." Ash started his chainsaw. Freddy began to sprint in Ash's direction. Ash revved up his saw and did the same. As they neared each other, Ash rang out a couple of shots from his gun. Freddy skillfully dodged them and continued toward Ash. The hero raised his saw and swung down as they met. Freddy leapt into the air and slashed Ash in his right cheek.

Ash sat up abruptly. He was breathing hard and sweating. It had been a dream. He reached up and touched his face and was shocked to feel blood running from his cheek.

"What the Hell?" he said as he looked at the blood on his hand. He looked around. It was dusk and he was sitting in the middle of a paved road. The street sign said Elm Street and several people were staring out their windows at him. Just then he heard police sirens right before three white and blue cars rounded the corner and headed in his direction. The cars screeched to a halt and six officers emerged and held their guns at the hero.

"It's him officer." a pedestrian said. "He's the murderer."

"Drop your weapons and put your hands on your head."

"Hey, I don't know what your talking about. I've never even seen these assholes before." A cop fired a warning shot and repeated the order. "You got the wrong guy." With that, the officers opened fire and Ash was forced to run. He tore through somebodies fence and through their yard. From there he scrambled through a bunch of bushes and continued running through more yards on his way to the woods. The police got around a house just in time to see the perpetrator vanish into the dark foliage. Ash ran blindly into the trees not knowing were he was headed. He stopped after a while and listened.

"I think I lost them." he said to himself as he looked around. He started walking through the dark forest. He had only gone a mile or so when he noticed moonlight reflecting off of water. He walked toward it. He made his way through some foliage and came upon a large, old wooden sign on poles. The sign bore the words "Camp Crystal Lake". He looked around at the old cabins.

"This is to coincidental. There is now way something bad is not going to happen here, but, what else do I have." He went into one of the cabins and sat down in an old chair and closed his eyes, just for a second.

He opened them back up only minutes later and found himself back on Elm Street. He looked around to find Freddy waiting for him.

"Welcome back Ash. The book told me how you survived my shadow. Would you like to know how?"

"You're gonna tell me any way."

"Green Eco. According to the book, whatever this stuff is, it's inside of you and makes you the one and only person in the whole goddamn world that can remain unharmed by subconscious, "dream" assaults. But you're still susceptible to physical violence."

"Nice speech pops. So, are we gonna rumble or are you gonna talk all night."

"Watch you mouth, or you just might loose it." Freddy swung his clawed hand at Ash. The hero ducked under it and punched Freddy in the stomach with his robotic hand. The "dream slasher" reeled back and clutched his gut.

"You hit pretty hard hero." he said menacingly.

"Try a hit from this crispy." Ash pointed his gun at the burned villain. Kruger kicked the barrel to away, making Ash miss his mark. Freddy then jumped over Ash and slashed him in the face. Ash whirled his saw behind him, but when he turned, Freddy was gone. He turned back around to see his adversary on the other side of the street.

"I'll save you for later. Somethings coming and I want you for myself. I'd hate for you to die..." Freddy's voice began to fade, as did he. "In your sleep."

"Yeah, that's right." Ash yelled while wiping the blood off of his face. "Take your brown hat and run home to momma."

"Get out of the chair and put your hands on your head!" Ash opened his eyes to see a police officer screaming and pointing a gun in his face. Ash blinked a couple of times while the cop repeated his order. Ash began to stand up when the officer stopped in mid-sentence and coughed out blood.

"Hey, buddy. You alright?" Ash asked. The cop collapsed to the floor and Ash looked up. Standing before him was a giant of a man, his clothes tattered and dirty, topped off by a hockey mask. Clutched in his right hand, a machete, dripping with blood. Behind the mask, two blank eyes stared down at Ash.

"You do know that hockey season's over?" The man just stared back, not saying a word. Just then, the door burst open and several police officers poured in.

"Holy shit!" one of them yelled. "There's two of 'em. They have to be the killers."

"Hey," Ash said. "I'm not with him." With that, the cops opened fire. Ash quickly grabbed his weapons and jumped through a window. Outside, he looked through a crack in the wall.

"So, that must be Jason." Ash watched bullets tear through Jason's rotting flesh with no effect. He kept marching toward his attackers with a very slow and steady pace. He slashed with his blade and eviscerated two officers while the other three backed out the door still firing. One stayed in the doorway, still shooting while his partners put their backs up against the outside wall to reload. Jason made a fist with his left hand and punched right through the face of the cop in the doorway. Ash watched as Jason thrust his blade through the cabin wall. Outside, one of the officers looked down at the sharp piece of metal protruding from his chest. Jason pulled out his machete and the cop fell to the ground dead. The last remaining officer turned and fled to the trees. Jason exited the door and hurled his blade at the running cop. It struck him directly in the back and he fell to the ground. Ash rounded the corner just as the officer met his demise. He rang out a shot the struck Jason in the side of the neck. His head flopped over and black blood ran from the wound. Jason spun around and faced Ash. He then lifted his head back upright and it popped back into place with a sickening crack. Ash holstered his gun on his back and lashed out with his chainsaw. It struck Jason in the side and carved off large chunks of dark, rotten flesh that littered the ground. Jason simply raised his fist and swung down. Ash dodged and pulled his saw free. The smell of festering blood stung his nose and eyes and he decided to run for the trees as well. He looked back to see Jason, in a slow, lumbering pursuit, stop for an instant, gather up his blade and continue on.

"Well, at least I should have time to figure something out." Ash said to himself as he made his way through the trees. He ran for several minutes, before coming upon a construction project on the side of the lake. It looked as though a large concrete and steel pier and boat dock were being placed on the lake.

"This is as good a place to fight as any." Ash said to himself. He turned around and instantly struck his head on a steel beam. He staggered back a few steps before he regained his balance.

"I'm okay." he said to himself. "Definitely okay." He took one step and fell to the ground. Just before he blacked out, he had an idea.

As always, Freddy was waiting for him.

"Welcome back." he was holding the book.

"Nice to be back." Ash fired a shot that Freddy dodged by turning into a shadow. He reappeared right in front of the hero staring him in the face.

"When are you gonna learn that this is my world?"

"Well, maybe we should find someplace else to play." Ash threw a robotic fist that Freddy ducked under. He slashed with his claws and cut deep into Ash's right thigh. Ash swung his metal hand down and caught Freddy in the back of the head. Freddy rolled away and stood up.

"You're starting to piss me off." Freddy lunged his clawed hand at Ash, who dodged to the side and grabbed Krueger by the throat with his robot hand. He then reached over and grabbed the book, that was tucked in Freddy's left arm, with his other hand.

Freddy looked around. He still felt the choking force of Ash's hand, but he didn't feel the book in his arm, he was not on Elm Street. He looked wide eyed at Ash.

"That's right." Ash said. "You're not in Kansas any more, smokey." Ash punched his enemy in the face with his left hand. Freddy landed hard on his back.

"How?" he silently asked himself.

"That book that you were so fond of expels me from whatever world I'm in when I touch it. I took you along for the ride."

"No matter." Freddy said as he stood up. "I'll still butcher you." He slashed repeatedly at the hero, missing several times but able to disarm him of his gun and saw. Ash swung back with his robot hand and, after missing a few attacks, managed to hit Freddy in the jaw, sending him crashing backwards. When the dust settled, Freddy looked up while on his back. He caught a shining glimmer of moonlight reflecting off of a smoth surface.

"Jason." he quietly muttered before he was forced to roll out of the way of the blade crashing down. Freddy rose to his feet and slashed at Jason's mid section. Black blood spewed out of his body as Jason was slashed over and over. Freddy was to quick for Jason to catch with his blade. Ash rushed in and used his shoulder to knock Freddy to the ground. He turned and swung a robotic fist that sent Jason staggering back into a concrete wall. Ash grabbed a piece of metal rod and stabbed Jason through the chest. Ash then used his metal hand to pound the rod into the concrete and bend it around Jason's body.

"That should hold you for a while." Ash turned the Freddy. He was not were he left him. He looked up to see Krueger sprinting to the lake. He shifted his eyes in front of his running adversary. Freddy was running for the book, it had landed on the lake shore. Ash quickly grabbed his gun and fired. Freddy collapsed as he ran, sliding in the dirt. Ash had shot him in the knee. He began to crawl to the book. Ash grabbed his saw and approached Freddy.

"Looks like you're a one legged man in an ass kicking contest." he said. Freddy rolled over onto his back. He started to say something, but instead just smiled. Ash stood puzzled for a brief moment looking at Freddy. He saw a faint shimmer reflect off of Freddy's clawed fingers. Ash quickly ducked as Jason's blade whistled through the air, inches above Ash's head. Ash jumped to the right as Jason came down again with his blade. Ash started his saw and revved it up before he locked it on full throttle. He drove it deep into Jason's chest and let go. The chain continued turning inside of Jason's body. The masked man dropped his blade and attempted to remove the weapon from his body, Ash turned to see Freddy standing by the water, holding the book by it's spine.

"Looks like I've won." Freddy said with an evil grin as he limped toward Ash. Jason had managed to remove the saw and was also walking toward the hero. Freddy thrust his clawed hand at Ash's face. Ash dodged and grabbed Freddy around the wrist with his left hand before spinning him around and striking him in the chest with his robot hand. Freddy stumbled back into Jason who grabbed him and began to squeeze. Freddy's arms fell to his sides as the breath was forced out of his body, but he kept hold of the book. Ash grabbed Jason's machete and stabbed down. Through the book, through Freddy's hand and into Jason's thigh. The face on the book screamed in pain and a red vortex opened up behind the two. Ash looked into it and could see flames. Freddy turned around and saw the swirling wormhole.

"No." he whispered before yelling the same word again at the top of his lungs. Freddy and Jason were sucked into the vortex. Ash watched as it slowly closed. He heard Freddy's voice yelling.

"You son of a bitch. You sent me to Hell. You locked me in here with Jason."

"Now you two play nice." Ash said as the vortex closed, sealing Freddy and Jason were they belong. He turned to see the book lying, smoking, on the ground, a large gouge in the grotesque face that adorned the cover were Jason's blade had been buried.

"I think it's an improvement." Ash collected his weapons, bend down and picked up the book. The blue vortex appeared and carried him off to yet another world.

Ash didn't even bother checking on the book. It was gone and he knew it. He was beginning to grow accustom to chasing the Necronomicon to Hell and back.

"I guess I should be thankful." he said to himself. "Most people never get to travel." He stood up and dusted himself off. He then surveyed his surroundings. He was on an island with no other land to be seen. He then heard a song being sung by a slurred voice. He looked behind him to see a man staggering around a large fire, still singing. He gathered up his gun and saw and walked across the beach to the flame. When he arrived the man was still attempting to dance and sing, neither one was being accomplished very well.

"Who are you supposed to be? Captain Crunch?" he said upon seeing the attire of the man. He whirled around, almost falling to the sand.

"Why are you on my island?" he slurred. "This is a private party and I don't know this Crunch person of which you speak."

"You are drunk off your ass." Ash said bluntly. The man blinked slowly before he replied.

"Maybe so. But I demand to be addressed properly. I am Captain Jack Sp..." he passed out in mid sentence and fell to the golden sand.

"Terrific, of all the people in all the universe, I get stuck with a drunk pirate."


	5. Ash on the Carribean

Chapter 5. Ash on the Caribbean

A loud rattling noise coursed through the air that violently roused Jack Sparrow from his drunken slumber. He rubbed his temple to try to alleviate the throbbing this strange noise was causing. He clamored to his feet and stumbled across the smoldering embers of his fire from the night before. He rubbed his eyes trying to force the cloudiness out of them. After squinting into the sunlight, he was able to make out the figure of a man in a tattered blue shirt wildly swinging a red object down in a group of palm trees. As he watched, the man stepped back and a large tree fell to the ground with a thundering crash.

"Hey!" Jack yelled as he began to run toward the man. "What are you doing to my trees?" As he approached, Ash stopped his saw and looked in the pirate's direction.

"What do you mean your trees?" Ash asked as he stared down the sprinting buccaneer.

"What I mean is these are mine and I cannot allow you to defile them in this fashion."

"Listen here pal." Ash replied. "If you want to die on this rock, that's your business, but I'm gettin' outa here." Jack opened his mouth to speak, but paused and a confused look took over his face.

"How?"

"I'm making a house of cards genius, it's a raft." Ash turned back to his work while Jack pondered a bit.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Jack muttered to himself.

After a couple hours of toiling in the hot sun, Ash was ready to set sail. He gathered up all of his belongings and strapped them down to the crude vessel.

"Jack!" Ash yelled down the beach. "We're ready to set sail on the S.S. Hurry Your Ass Up." Ash finished his task and boarded the craft. After coming to the conclusion that Jack knew nothing about the Necronomicon, Ash allowed him to continue living.

"Jack, this boat ain't gonna launch itself."

"Need I remind you that I know the only place there is on this whole forsaken island to get the necessary fluids for this little excursion?" Jack said as he walked up to the raft.

"Well good for you. I bet your momma's real proud that you were able to conjure up eighteen bottles of rum."

"A man has to have his priorities." Jack replied as he laid his tattered coat that he used to carry the rum on the boat.

"Jack... shut up and shove off." Jack Sparrow pushed with all his might and the two men began their journey. As they drifted away from their island, Jack began to dig into his old coat for a bottle.

"Shall we have a toast to a good journey?"

"Well I suppose the sooner I get drunk the sooner it will be easier to put up with you."

"That's the spirit." Jack said as he handed a bottle to Ash. "To a safe and pleasant journey." They raised their bottles and drank.

"Safe journey, huh?" Ash said before he raised his bottle for another swig. "We're in the middle of the ocean on a homemade raft."

"We're not in the middle of the ocean." Jack replied. "We are only a mere 200 miles away from the main land." Ash lowered his bottle and looked at his shipmate.

"Only?" Jack laughed and took another drink before he started to sing. "This is gonna be a long trip."

Hours later, the two castaways had absolutely no idea where they were, but nonetheless, they were still enjoying themselves.

"So you arrived at my island through a hole in the sky?"

"More or less." Ash replied after taking another sip. "This is only one stop on my inter dimensional travels."

"It's hard to believe that there are other worlds out there beyond our reach. But that begs the question, how did you get here?"

"A book."

"A book." Jack paused for a moment before he burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Don't fall in and drown." Ash said as Jack tumbled over backwards and passed out on the hard trunks that made the raft. "Not a bad idea." Ash slumped backwards and went to sleep.

Ash was jarred from his sleep by a splash of water. He rolled over and looked up. What he saw caused him to immediately jump to his feet and kicked Jack in the side.

"Jack, it's a ship." Jack groaned as he rolled over. He also sprang to his feet at the sight of the ship.

"That's my ship. It's the Black Pearl." Jack said softly.

"Really. Then explain to me why it's up there and you're down here."

"It was stolen from me."

"Captain Jack Sparrow. It's nice to see you again." The two looked up and met eyes with one of the most eye catching women Ash had ever seen. She had fiery red hair that twirled in the wind. Ash also noticed that her breasts were poised to break a few of the buttons on her tight shirt. "And you brought a friend."

"I know what you are thinking Ash, don't. She is as deadly as she is beautiful."

"That's always how it goes."

"Get them aboard." Several hairy, dirty, muscle bound pirates lowered ropes and hoisted them up to the deck. When Ash and Jack were on board, the crew took their weapons. Ash couldn't help but notice that all of the crew's eyes were clouded white.

"Ruby Heart." Jack said as he put his hands together. "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." the woman replied. "I was hoping that when I looked back upon you on that island, it was the last time."

"Mrs. Heart, you are devilishly wicked. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time our eyes met, were you not first mate?"

"I had no problem taking the ship from Barbosa. Once I killed him, and several crewmen, it was all a matter of time before the ocean trembled in my wake."

"That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that sword your carrying does it?" Jack said confidently.

"Throw them in the brig." Ash and Jack were both grabbed and dragged to the lower decks and locked up while their weapons were taken to Ruby's cabin. Jack laid down on his cot and closed his eyes.

"She has the book." Ash said. "She has the whole crew under its influence."

"Not only that, but she also has the Sword of Neptune. Most people don't believe that it even exists."

"What does that have to do with it."

"That blade allows control of the dead taken by the sea."

"So every asshole that ever drowned in the ocean is under her control?"

"Not yet. She has to first acquire the Neptune's Blood. That is the difficult part. The vile that holds the bloods is at the bottom of the sea somewhere near port Royale. It has been said that it is concealed by a powerful magic."

"She's going to use the book to find it."

"Then we had better find a way out of this cell." Jack began to look around the cell for a weakness. Ash looked at his robotic hand. He then effortlessly reached forward and snapped the lock on their door.

"That will work." the two snuck out of their cell and back up to the deck. The sun had set and most of the deckhands were busying themselves with mindless tasks. Jack snuck up behind on of the possessed men and stole his sword before slitting his throat.

"It is usually beneath me to have to resort to such shady tactics." Jack said. "But one cannot argue with the results." he took the rest of the blades off of the dead man and gave them to Ash. Both of them were now armed with two blades, one long and one short.

"Now," said Jack. "I will make a distraction while you see to getting back our proper weapons." Jack leapt out onto the deck and began to strike at the deckhands. Before Ash even had time to move, Jack had killed three of the pirates and was heading for more. Ash made his way to the captain's quarters slashing at possessed pirates along the way. He lost his short blade inside the belly of a deckhand but continued slashing with his other one and swinging hard with his solid steel hand. Just as he reached out to grab the doorknob, the door swung open and Ash met the captain face-to-face.

"What's a beautiful gal like you doin' surrounding yourself with dirty pirates." Ash said as Ruby Heart emerged from her quarters and closed the door behind her.

"I like to be in control." she replied before she drew her sword. Ash spun around and slashed open another pirate.

"Darlin'," Ash said as he wiped blood off of his face. "How about you and me take a pleasure cruise on the Love Boat courtesy of Captain Ash."

"I believe your ship has sailed." Ruby said with a smile as she lashed out at Ash with her blade. Ash grabbed her blade with his robotic hand.

"I think it just dropped anchor." Ash and Ruby paused for a moment. Their silence broken by an unconscious pirate landing at their feet. Ruby's head turned toward a blood covered Jack Sparrow.

"This time I'll take care of you myself." Ruby swiftly punched Ash in the face and turned her attention to Jack. Ash staggered back into the arms of two deckhands.

"Sorry guys, but you're not my type." He said as he stabbed one in the neck and collapsed the others windpipe with a quick elbow to the throat. He looked toward Jack and Ruby. They both had sweat running down their faces as their blades met and sparks flew. Ruby blocked Jack's sword and yelled at the rest of her crew.

"Take care of the other one." Ash could have sworn that he heard a hint of remorse in her voice as she yelled out the order. The possessed pirates turned to Ash and began walking in his direction. Ash quickly ducked into Ruby's private study and locked the heavy door. He heard the crewmen begin to pound on the door in an attempt to bust it down.

"Come to papa." Ash said upon discovering the bundle that had been stolen from them. As he bent down to grab it, he caught a look at himself in the mirror. "I can't be lettin' a pretty girl like that see me in this old, tattered, S-Mart shirt. Maybe I have enough time to gussy up a bit." He surveyed the room and came upon a closet filled with long sleeved white shirts. He put it on and quickly looked in the mirror.

"This shirt's kinda puffy, but it'll have to do." Ash strapped on his saw and grabbed his gun. He pointed his weapon at the door at let loose several loud shots. A little blood trickled though the holes he had made and the pounding stopped. He fired up his saw, cut through the door and kicked it open. As he stepped over all of the dead bodies that littered the deck, Ruby performed a backflip to dodge an attack from Captain Sparrow and landed on the railing of the ship.

"Do you really think you can defeat me and this indestructible sword." She raised her weapon above her head when a shot rang out and made a skull rattling ding as the slug struck Ruby's blade. She barely managed to hang on to it so it didn't fall in the water.

"Not so fast darlin'." Ash said as he slung his gun over his shoulder. Ruby looked at Ash, then back to Jack Sparrow. She then grabbed a nearby rope and cut it with her sword. The heavy load attached to the other end pulled her rapidly toward the crows nest. Ash pointed his gun as she climbed inside and ducked down.

"Ash, shoot her." Jack said. Up on the crow's nest, Ruby reappeared with the Necronomicon. Ash squeezed the trigger. Ruby flinched a bit, looked down at Ash and then dove into the water with the Sword of Neptune and the Book of the Dead.

"Ash." Jack said. "Did you miss, or are you letting your heart aim for you?" Ash pointed his gun at Jack.

"I don't miss twice. Besides, she couldn't have gone far." Ash looked over the side of the boat.

"Ruby Heart is one mysterious lady."

"You can bet your three cornered hat she is." Ash replied as he looked into the empty sea. He lifted his eyes to the horizon and saw land.

"Port Royale." Jack said. "There's even more fun ahead."

A short while later, The Black Pearl had made it's way into the port. A radiant beam of white light caught there attention. They looked up on top of a seaside cliff and saw Ruby. She was holding the open Necronomicon above her head. The light pierced the dark water and turned black.

"She has found it." Jack said as the light retreated back into the book. "Ruby then picked up her sword and closed the book around the blade. At the instant she did that, the sea began to boil around them.

"Ash," Jack said softly. "I think that we should get off this ship." Ash turned around to see partially decayed corpses with cloudy white eyes haul themselves up onto the deck.

"Well," Ash said. "Let's get after it." With that, both men began shooting madly as they ran toward the edge of the boat. Ash hacked a few deadites in half so they could escape the craft. When they reached the dock, they saw an ever increasing number attacking the port. Ash blasted a deadite chasing a woman down the street while Jack stabbed an approaching one in the face.

"Ash, you go after Ruby. I have quit a few friends in this port." Jack took off to the pub were bullets were flying constantly, killing deadites all around. Ash departed for the top of the cliff. He hacked and slashed and blasted his way up the road to the top, leaving decaying body parts in his wake.

"Ruby. All this ruling the world stuff has to stop. It's not fitting for such a lovely lady."

"You have quiet the silver tongue. But I cannot allow you to interfere."

"I always did want to meet my end at the hands of a beautiful lady."

"Don't feel bad Ash. In a different time, I would have taken you for my own. But the world isn't big enough to share, even with a charming devil like yourself."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." Ruby lashed out in a heavy overhead strike with her sword that knocked Ash's saw to the ground. She swung again, but Ash was able to block it with his robotic hand. Down in the pub, Jack was enjoying a brew while blasting and slashing dead sailors with several of his old friends. Back up on the cliff, Ruby swiped her sword at Ash, who once again blocked it with his metal hand by grasping the blade and thrusting it into an approaching deadite. Ash took this opportunity to roll away and grab his saw. He strapped it on and fired it up before swinging it as his adversary. When the rotating chain of his two cycle weapon struck the indestructible blade of Captain Heart's, a massive explosion of golden sparks erupted from the impact point.

"What do you say we call it a draw?" Ash asked sarcastically.

"Not on your life." Ruby replied as she thrust her sword again. Her blade sliced right through Ash's puffy shirt and gave him a large gash on his right shoulder.

"Love hurts." Ruby said as Ash grabbed his arm. Ash dropped his saw as blood poured from the wound. Ruby approached and put her blade to his throat.

"It ends now." She said.

"One last thing lady," Ash said. "Why are the pretty one's always so dumb?" Ash knocked her blade away, quickly grabbed his gun and pointed it in Ruby's face. "Game's over sweetcakes." Ash grabbed the sword and thrust the tip of it through the Necronomicon. Immediately, all of the living dead stopped in their tracks and began to wander back to the sea.

"Ash!" Jack yelled from down in the port as he exited the pub, staggering a bit. "Hold tight and I'll bring you a drink." Jack began to run up to the top with two mugs of rum in his hands. Ruby backed up toward the edge of the cliff.

"You win Ash, but, this is were I say goodbye." She put her hands on Ash's face, leaned in and gave him a long kiss. When she broke away, she looked into Ash's eyes and backed off the edge. After a moment, Ash looked over the edge. He saw nothing.

"That Ruby is very mysterious." Jack said as he handed Ash a mug of rum.

"Thanks Jack. Bottoms up." Ash drank his rum before shaking Jack's hand and pulling the sword from the book. He offered it to Jack.

"Go ahead and keep it, there's no more magic in it. All that's left is it's durability. It will never break."

"Sweet." Ash put the sword in his belt and grabbed the book.

"Happy sailing Ash."

Ash looked around him as he got up off of the ground. He was surrounded by treesthat were completely bare. He looked down an old path that did not appear as though it had been traveled in a long time. He checked to make sure that all his weapons were in order before he began down the trail. He hadn't walked very far when he came upon the strangest trees he had ever seen. The seven trees sat in a circle, and every one of them had an odd shape on the front of it.

"It looks like a door." He said to himself as he studied the door shaped like a Jack-o'-lantern. He then turned to the tree with a door shaped like a Christmas tree. He drew his sword and carved _Ash was here_ in the trunk before continuing down the path.


	6. The Nightmare Before ChristmAsh

Chapter 6. The Nightmare Before ChristmAsh

Ash continued down the bare path for what seemed like hours before speaking.

"Does this even go anywhere?" Ash asked himself as he wandered down the barren road. "No tire tracks or footprints. Maybe I'll just find that damn book lying in the dirt." A sound flowed into Ash's ears. He dropped his head and sighed.

"Singing." he said with a less than enthused voice. He maintained his direction as he marched unwillingly toward the sound. He slowly trudged up a fairly steep hill for a while before coming to it's peak.

"Figures, a frightening-beyond-all-reason graveyard, and I have to cross it to get to that awful singing. I'm not sure if I want to live anyway." Ash leapt over the rusted fence and began to make his way across the burial ground, gun in hand. He carefully walked around grotesque headstones and dead foliage. He turned sharply at the sound of a dog's playful bark and pointed his gun in the direction of a floating white dog holding what appeared to be a rib bone in his mouth. The ghost dog wagged his tail and circled Ash.

"Hey there fella." he said cautiously. The dog dropped his bone and approached Ash. "Zero, huh?" Ash said after seeing the dog's tag. "You look harmless enough." He reached down to pet him and his hand passed right through the specter.

"Why did I think that would work?" Just then, Zero grabbed Ash's gun in his mouth and flew off. Ash began to follow.

"Heal you god damn mut." He followed Zero into a clearing. Out of breath, Ash watched the dog stop suddenly, drop his gun and flee as though it was frightened. Ash walked up and picked up his weapon.

"What the hell is that?" he asked himself at the sight of a spiraling hill. Just then he realized that the singing he had heard earlier had turned to screaming. He ran in the direction of the sound and charged through a rusted gate, cutting his arm.

"Tetanus much?" He made his way down a grey stoned walkway and into an open area with a fountain in the middle that was spewing green liquid. All around, strange looking beings, ranging from a clown on a unicycle to a werewolf with no pants, were fleeing from several skeletons and ghosts.

"Which one's are the badguys? Maybe I'll just wing it." He drew his gun and started up his saw. He whirled his revolving blade around, severing two skulls from their bare-boned bodies. The bones collapsed in a dusty pile.

"Lazy bones." He then preceded to fire off several rounds, rendering several more skeletons into lifeless piles.

"Thank you stranger." an ugly witch said as she flew by on her broomstick

"Guess I got the right ones." he said as he continued saving the day once again. After blazing through a few more bone bags. Two ghosts approached and stole is gun and saw.

"Time to get primitive." Ash pulled his sword and commenced with the slashing. Four more skeletons fell to the blade while he used his mechanical hand to crush and pummel more skulls.

"Come one." Ash said disappointed. "Is that all you got?" He then heard a haunting moan from above.

"Oh, right." At least a dozen spirits circle around him. Neither his blade or his closed fist had any effect.

"I may be in trouble." The ghosts closed in with wicked smiles on their twisted faces. He was clutched by several transparent hands and was lifted into the air. He thrashed around trying to escape their grasp when a bright green band wrapped around his waist and pulled him down. He landed hard on his shoulder, dislocating it. Gasping for air, he looked over at a very tall and gangly being wearing a black pinstripe suit.

"Who do you think you are interrupting our Halloween?" He cracked his green strand like a whip, causing the specters to flee. He quickly swung the gooey rope around, catching the two ghosts carrying Ash's weapons. He pulled them in swiftly and brought his face to the shrieking ghosts.

"Tell that no good Oogie Boogie that I will find him." The ghosts dropped the gun and saw as they fled in terror.

"Are you alright?" the tall hero said as he extended his boney hand to Ash.

"Thanks, tall, dark and gruesome." Ash said as he staggered to his feet. "But that little stunt you pulled unhinged my shoulder."

"Oh, I am sorry. Step over to the fountain, that'll fix you right up. By the way, my name is Jack Skellington."

"Ash. How does this work?" Jack produced a crystal clear, twisted bottle, filled it up and gave it to Ash.

"Drink up." Ash looked at the questionable fluid.

"Well, maybe this will kill me."

"Unfortunately no. It will only heal you."

"That's to bad." Ash said before he tipped it back and swallowed the liquid. Ash's entire body was filled with a warm sensation that quickly keyed in on his wounds. He flinched as his shoulder cracked back into place before watching the wound on his arm completely heal.

"It's just like Green Eco." he said silently to himself. He handed the bottle back to Jack, who refilled it and handed it back to Ash.

"Consider it a gift." Jack said.

"Uh, thanks." Ash said, realizing that this big misshapen bottle would be near impossible to carry in a pocket.

"Let's go see the Doctor"

"I'm already healed, what is a doctor gonna be able to do."

"He's not that kind of doctor." The unlikely pair made their way up a winding sidewalk that led to a dark, twisted building made of steel. The black sky had begun to turn grey as the morning approached when Jack knocked loud with his boney hand and the heavy doors opened up.

"Who is it?" An obviously annoyed voice yelled from the top of the spiral stairs. "I am very busy."

"Doctor," Jack said. "It's me. I was hoping that you could be able to help me and my friend here."

"Of course, of course." the Doctor said as he wheeled his chair to the edge of the balcony. "Any friend of Jack Skellington's is a friend of mine. No matter how strange looking he may be."

"You're no catch yourself Doc." Ash leaned over close to Jack. "What exactly is he a doctor of?"

"The good Dr. Finkelstien can do nearly anything you can imagine. Oh, and how could I have forgotten you, Igor?" Jack reached down to pet a small, severely hunchbacked creature that had wandered into the room.

"So," Dr. Finkelstien said. "How can I be of assistance to your and your friend here?" The doctor's lips curled back and Ash saw the obvious distrust on the old man's face.

"The name's Ash, Frankenstein."

"That's Finkelstien."

"Yeah whatever, Dr. Fishburger. How bout you get this thing outa here before he starts pole dancing on my leg." Ash kicked at Igor, who had been sniffing his pantleg.

"Igor, come." The Doctor said sternly.

"He might have already." Ash said as he meandered over to Finkelstien's workbench. The Doctor handed Igor a bone biscuit. Igor ran to the corner and chewed happily on his treat.

"Doctor," Jack said. "We need whatever inventions you have that might help us defeat Oogie Boogie."

"Oogie Boogie!" the Doctor said in surprise. "I thought you destroyed him."

"I did. But somehow he has returned to his old tricks."

"I bet I know how." Ash said as he set the large crystal bottle on the bench. "The same way I got here."

"Well Ash, enlighten us." Jack said, captivated.

"Yes, let's hear it." Finkelstien said before he opened the top of his skull and scratched his head

"Only if you promise not to do that again." Finkelstien closed his lid. "Thanks, Frankincense." The Doctor grunted his disapproval.

"Long story short, I've been leapfrogging from world to world chasing a God Damn book all over the universe."

"How can you be sure this book has brought Oogie back?" Jack asked, crossing his arms.

"I'm sure because every bad guy on every other world I've visited has been using the book to try to control it."

"That's quite a story Ash." Finkelstien said. "Do you expect us to believe you?"

"I realize that you have no reason to trust me." Ash said. "But you kind of have to. I'm the only guy who knows what your up against. Isn't that right Dr. Flintstone?"

"And Jack's taken care of Oogie before." A voice said. Into the room walked a pale, but beautiful red head. "I'm Sally."

"My aren't you put together." Ash said as he looked at her stitches. "Never imagined I'd come across a beauty among all these beasts." Sally blushed and turned to Jack.

"I watched how you and he chased off Oogie's monsters. I believe what Ash says is true."

"As do I." Jack replied. "We shall venture out and rid ourselves of Oogie Boogie once again."

"Nice speech," Ash said. "Can ol' Doctor Fagileskull help us out."

"It's FINKELSTIEN!" the Doctor yelled. Sally had to cover her mouth to stop her laughter.

"Alright, alright. I'll try to learn your name." Ash said sarcastically.

"The only reason I'm an going to help you is because of Jack." Finkelstien turned his chair around and wheeled toward the workbench. "I notice that you are carrying that large crystal bottle in your back pocket. I have something that may help both of you carry more provisions than usual." Finkelstien produced a small, black spot and laid it on the table. "I call it a shadow pocket." he said as he put his arm up to the elbow into the whole. "It creates a small area in space that can be used for addition storage."

"I'll take that." Ash said as he put the black spot into the front pocket of his jeans. He then shoved the entire bottle into the shadow. "Hey, it works."

"Of course it works." Finkelstien said. "I created it." Ash was to busy for a snappy comeback. He was concerned with throwing everything on his person into the shadow pocket. Shotgun shells, a pen, his S-Mart nametag, loose change, anything.

"This," Finkelstien said to Jack. "Is for you." He produced a jar that held a self contained flame.

"What is this?" Jack asked as he marveled at the dancing flame.

"It is a Pumpkin Flame. It will imbue you with the ability to conjure fire from your hands. It will also make your Soul Robber even more powerful." He opened the lid and the flame crept into Jack's hands. Jack looked at his left hand and willed a flame to dance from his fingers. He then cracked his green Soul Robber and a wave of fire burst out and struck the wall. Across the room, Ash was wowing Sally with tales of his adventure.

"So there I was," he said softly to the awestruck redhead. "Surrounded by an army of Deadites. All by myself, slashing and blasting my way through them all without breaking a sweat."

"Amazing." She said. "Will then you should have no trouble with Oogie Boogie."

"I doubt he'll put up much of a fight."

"It just sickens me that inside that stained burlap sack, he is made of spiders, flies, and who knows what other gross creatures."

"Spiders?" Ash said shakily. "Why spiders?"

"What's wrong?" Sally said.

"Oh nothing baby. We better get going." Ash said as he turned to Jack, his face a little pale. "I hate spiders." he said very softly.

"Just a moment." Finkelstien said. "I don't trust you Ash, and I don't want anything to befall Jack. Give me your sword."

"What makes you think I'll trust you."

"Just give my your sword." The Doctor took it and set it on the workbench. He then reached up and grabbed a jar labeled "Deadly Nightshade." He took out the dead plant, ground it up, and mixed in several other vile substances. When he was finished, he soaked the fluid up with a sponge and ran it along the blade. The metal began to smoke and change shape.

"Hey thanks, pal." Ash said. "You just discovered a way to get your crippled ass kicked."

"Patience, my boy." The smoke cleared. The Blade of Neptune had transformed. It had lost it's golden luster, and the jewels that adorned the handle had turned black. The sword was now as dark as the rest of this dreary world.

"You are now the owner of a Deadly Nightblade. This sword is now able to dispense thos pesky ghosts."

"Great Doc." Ash said before turning to Jack. "Now can we go?"

"One last thing." the Doctor said glaring at Ash. "When you two reach the base of Spiral Hill, seek out the lone grave and thrust the blade into the soil."

"What good'll that do?" Ash asked.

"Like I said, I don't trust you. Jack needs the help of one who has saved this land once before."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked as he neared the Doctor.

"Ash." Sally grabbed his arm. "Goodluck." she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well Doctor," Jack said. "Thanks for your help."

"Anything for you Jack."

"Yeah, thanks." Ash and Jack made their way to the door. Just before it slammed shut, Ash said. "Dr. Fraggle Rock." Sally had to leave the room for fear of laughing at the enraged Doctor who had literally flipped his lid.

After a short walk through the graveyard, Ash Williams and Jack Skellington were at the bottom of Spiral Hill looking at the lone headstone at the base of the twisted nolle. Ash read it aloud.

"Here Lies Sir Daniel Fortesque, Hero of Halloween Town. Slain while defending this fair city against the horde of "The Hessian.""

"I've heard this story. Several hundred years ago, Sir Dan here, single handedly cut down an entire army before being mortally wounded through the left eye in the final confrontation with the Hessian."

"Who was this Hessian."

"Just a power hungry madman. He was famous for riding his giant black horse into battle chopping off every head he could find"

"Charming." Ash said before thrusting his blade into the dirt. He jumped back as the ground began to shake. Shortly afterward, the ground burst open as a coffin sprung from the soil. The door creaked opened while Ash and Jack struggled to see through all the dust. They finally saw a skeleton wearing a suit of armor, a sword and shield in his hands. They both got in close and stared for a moment, until the right socket of the skull popped out an eye. It looked back and forth at both the heroes before the body began to move.

"I guess it worked." Ash said.

"It would appear so." Jack replied. Dan emerged from his coffin while he yawned and stretched his dusty bones.

"I wonder how ugly he was before he died." Ash said at the sight of Sir Dan's oddly shaped cranium.

"What happened to your jaw?" Jack asked the ancient warrior. Fortesque reached for his bottom mandible. His one and only eye opened wide in surprise before he got on his hands and knees looking for his jaw. A series of incoherent mumbles that sounded a lot like medieval curse words flowed out while Dan frantically searched for his missing body part. Jack tried to be polite and cover his laughter, while Ash just let it erupt from him. Dan finally stopped searching and let out a sigh.

"Alright," Ash said wiping tears from his eyes. "That was great. Let's go." Ash and Jack led the way while Sir Dan dragged his feet behind them.

An hour later, after Ash and Jack got lost, Fortesque was leading the way through a dark, ominous forest.

"Hey handsome," Ash said. "Do you have any idea were we are?" Fortesque mumbled to himself as he continued on. Ash turned to Jack. "I think we're lost."

"Let us not forget that he got us back on track after..." Jack's voice trailed off.

"After what?" Ash asked. "Go ahead and say it. I got us lost. Big deal." Ahead of them, Fortesque stopped in his tracks and drew his sword. Ash and Jack readied themselves as they began to hear a familiar haunting moan. The three stood with their backs to each other, staring into the shadows of the forest. A few moments of silence pasted before Jack spoke.

"Maybe they're gone."

"No," Ash said. "It's never that easy." When Ash finished speaking, Fortesque finally said something that was audible.

"Uh oh." At that, ghosts flowed out of the trees like a giant flood. The sound of their moans was deafening as they began to swirl around the three heroes. Ash slashed his sword around, passing effortlessly through many specters. The ghosts screamed as their bodies faded away like fog. Ash continued his assault while Jack and his Soul Robber were making short work of many other ghosts. He wrapped the green strand around four of the flying spirits and swung them around, crashing into a massive crowd of other white entities, dissipating all of them in one motion. Shortly afterward, Ash and Jack were no longer being assaulted. They looked over at Dan who was dispensing ghosts faster then Jack and Ash combined.

"Well," Ash said. "This sure makes me feel needed."

"I can see why he was so revered in life." Jack replied as he watched Dan's onslaught on his foes. He moved as if it was a choreographed dance. In a matter of seconds, the huge invasion of ghosts had been completely eliminated. Fortesque looked around for more and with an expression of disappointment on his face, sheathed his sword and drooped his shoulders.

"Not bad," Ash said as he approached Fortesque. "I guess those hundreds of years of rest did you good." He slapped him on the shoulder, causing his arm to fall of and hit the ground. Fortesque glared at Ash with his one good eye. "Uh, sorry." When Ash bend down to pick it up, the ground began to quake. "What the Hell is that?" Just then, the soil violently shifted, knocking the three off their feet. The three heroes, looked around as everything became eerily quiet. As they gazed at the trees, they large twisted branches began to move. The trees were attacking. Ash was the first to his feet.

"Time to go to work baby." He started his saw and commenced lopping off branches as they attacked. With every cut, Ash was spayed with a black fluid. The trees were bleeding.

"Ash," Jack yelled out. "That's not necessary." Ash looked back and saw flames dancing in Jack's eyes. Ash quickly ducked out of the way as Jack swung his Soul Robber around, catching fire as it whirled around. It released an arch of fire the engulfed the devil trees. He then fired another blast from his left hand, catching even more of the trees aflame. The trees screamed in agony while they desperately tried to smother the flames with their branches. The flame spread a lot faster than expected. The heroes turned and fled from the heat. Fortesque stopped in his tracks, turned around, grabbed his arm and ran behind Ash and Jack.

Ash was still laughing at how Fortesque ran when they made it to Oogie's mansion. They approached a green door with a wicked smile painted on it.

"Suppose we should knock first?" Ash asked. Fortesque raised his fist to the door. Before he could pound on the rotten wood, the door flew open. The three stood back as three little kids emerged wearing Halloween masks. Jack crossed his arms.

"Lock, Shock and Barrel. I thought you three learned your lesson."

"Now that Oogie's back," Lock said. "We don't have to listen to you anymore."

"Yeah," added Shock. "He'll be very pleased with us when we get rid of you."

"What is this?" Ash said. "Little kids, huh. I don't have time for this." Ash picked up Lock and Shock and banged their heads together. He them clutched hold of a fleeing Barrel and spanked him hard with his robot hand. The three trick or treaters began to cry as they ran off into the night.

"I was a bully in grade school." Ash said before they entered the door. They made their way cautiously down a long hallway. They hadn't ventured very far, when the room in front of them was flooded with bright lights.

"Oogie." Jack said as he looked up on a higher level of the room.

"Jack Skellington. I have been waiting for you. And you bought a bag of flesh and a pile of bones with you. All the more for my pet to swallow." Oogie stepped in front of a light and Ash saw the shadow of the Necronomicon inside of his burlap body. Oogie pulled a lever that closed the entrance. He moved over to another lever.

"Time to come out and play." With another pull, a large gate clanked open and a low growl emerged from within. The heroes readied their weapons and watched the black entrance closely. Just then, eight yellow eyes came into view, followed by a massive eight legged body.

"A spider. It had to be a spider." Ash said.

"What's the matter?" Oogie said. "Don't like spiders. Well you'll have lots of time to conquer your fear while you are digested." Oogies' maniacal laughter coursed through the chamber. Ash got behind Jack and Dan, who charged at the beast. The spider thrashed around as the two approached it. Dan ducked underneath it's large abdomen and stabbed up, causing green blood to escape form the gash while Jack charred the insect's face with a waved of fire. Ash stood back and watched, wanting to help, but to full of arachnophobia to move. As he looked on, Oogie continued to laugh while the spider grabbed Dan with it's front legs and tried to feed him into it's disgusting mouth. Dan punched at the spider's eyes with all his might. Jack wrapped his Soul Robber around Dan's waist and pulled, but to no avail. The spider reached out with one of it's long legs and knocked Jack over before pinning him down. Ash started his saw.

"That's about enough of being a wiener." Ash said as he unwillingly marched toward the fray. He sprinted around the giant spider, buzzing through four of the beast's long legs, causing it to topple over, releasing both Dan and Jack. Ash grabbed on to a long hair on the spider's back and climbed on top as it struggled to get back up. Ash drew his sword and stabbed the insect in the back of the head. The bug kicked a bit and then ceased moving.

"My baby!" Oogie yelled rage. "That makes my bugs boil. It's time for a new game, It's called, keep your head." Oogie ran to another lever and pulled it. Yet another steel gate opened. The three heroes watched and listened intently. They soon heard what sounded like horse hooves shortly before a figure made it's way into the light. On top of a huge skeleton horse, sat a body with no head wearing a long black trench coat. In his right hand, he carried a small ax and in his left, a long sword.

"It's the Hessian." Jack said as Dan stared at their enemy in anger.

"This should be more fun than a spider." Ash said as he pointed his gun and fired. The slug made a hole in the horses ribs, but had no other effect. Dan pushed his way through Ash and Jack before charging at the Hessian. Ash and Jack followed. When Dan arrived, he blocked a sword slash with his shield and stabbed his adversary in the side. The horse reared up, knocking Dan to the ground. The Hessian then pulled out the sword from his side and threw it at Dan. The blade became wedged in between Dan's ribs and pinned him to the ground. Ash then yelled at Jack.

"Jack, hobble him." Jack swung his soul robber around and caught the horses back legs, rendering it unable to move.

"Sticks and stones will break your bones." Ash swung his gun like a club and broke the horses front legs. It crashed to the ground and the Hessian leapt off. Ash blocked an attack from the ax with his gun, but received an elbow to the face. Jack wrapped his green weapon around the Hessian's waist, only to have him grab the strand and pull Jack into Ash, knocking them both to the ground. A blade then stuck through the Headless Horseman's torso. A smile appeared in Dan's crooked face. He pulled his blade out and the Hessian turned around. Dan blocked several sword and ax attacks before he swung his body around and cut the Horseman in twine. The torso continued it's pursuit until Jack caught it on fire.

"Huh," Ash said. "I guess you're twice the man that he was."

"I don't believe this." Oogie said before he made his way to the exit. Jack used his Soul Robber to swing up in front of him.

"We're not done with you yet." Ash and Dan climbed up behind them.

"Ready Dan?" Ash said.

"Uh huh." The two slashed their swords downward, cutting the thread that held Oogie together. Bugs began to leak out of the seams. Oogie tried to run past Jack, who wrapped his Soul Robber around Oogie's head and pulled. Oogie split in two, piles of bugs littered the ground, covering the Necronomicon. Ash drew his gun and began firing at the ground before he began to simply step on them.

"God Damn bugs." Jack picked up the book while Dan yawned. "Looks like it's past Dan's bedtime." Ash said.

"Lets get back to town and tell everyone the good news." Jack replied as Dan yawned again.

Dan shook the hands of both Ash and Jack before entering his coffin and sinking back into the ground.

"You made it." Sally said as she approached the two triumphant heroes.

"That's right baby." Ash said. "Ol' Jack here knocked 'em dead."

"We couldn't have done it without you and your heroic actions." Ash leaned over and whispered to Jack."

"Thanks for not mentioning the whole spider thing." Jack handed the book to Ash. "See ya 'round, bone daddy."

"Goodbye Ash." Jack said as he backed up. The blue vortex appeared.

"See ya later doll." Sally watched as Ash was whisked away yet again.

Ash stood up and looked around his new environment. He was inside a dark room that echoed his every step. He made his way to the only window in the room. His eyes widened in disbelief at the sight that lay before him. He was traveling though space. From his little window, Ash watched as the little spaceship that he had suddenly boarded, dodged asteroids of vibrant colors and flew between oddly shaped, bright and shiny structures. Suddenly the ship shook violently and Ash smashed his face up against the window in an effort to see as much as he could. The ship was descending down at an extremely fast rate. As it pierced through the clouds, Ash could see a huge castle surrounded by land that reflected the sunlight like a mirror. In a matter of seconds, the ship touched down hard, knocking Ash from his feet and slamming him hard into a door that had been undetected. The heavy door slowly opened as he heard the ship's engines shutting down. When he rose to his feet, voices caught his attention.

"You call that a landing?" A speech impeded voice said.

"We're here, aren't we?" That voice seemed to belong to a teenage boy.

"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one." A deeper voice said before chuckling. Ash made his way toward the noise and stepped into the control room. In front of him, three chairs swivelled around. He locked eyes with a spike haired kid, a duck and a tall, long eared dog. He thought it was a dog.


	7. Kingdom Ash

Chapter 7. Kingdom Ash

"How did you get onto our ship?" the duck yelled as he pointed his staff at Ash.

"Hey now," Ash replied as he raised his arms. "No need to ruffle your feathers. I'm as surprised that I'm here as you are. Now put down your stick and let me explain."

"It had better be good." the boy said as he pointed his sword in Ash's face.

"Aren't you a little young to be carrying a sword?" Ash said.

"Aren't you a little old to be stowing away someone else's ship?" the duck said angrily.

"Fair enough."

After Ash briefly explained his situation and how he had come to board their vessel, the odd group he had just met surprisingly seemed to understand.

"We're world travelers too." the dog said.

"Really?" Ash said. "It seems you've found a better way to do it than me."

"Maybe he's met the King." the duck said excitedly.

"King?"

"Yeah," the boy said. "He's short and with big round ears and a tail. His name is Mickey."

"King Mickey, huh?" Ash replied after hearing the description. "I don't believe we've ever met." The trio hung their heads in disappointment before the boy spoke.

"Well it was a long shot anyway. What's your name?"

"Ash." he replied as he began to look around the bridge of the ship. "Hey, duck. How about finding my gear."

"My name is Donald." the water foul said, obviously annoyed.

"I'm Sora." the boy said before he turned to the dog. "And this is Goofy."

"Nice to meet ya." Goofy said to Ash.

"Now that we're all friends," Ash said. "Anyone seen my stuff." Goofy went into the room Ash had fallen out of and turned on the light. Lying in the corner was Ash's shotgun, chainsaw and Deadly Nightblade. Ash quickly gathered his belongings while Sora spoke.

"We've been traveling from world to world trying to find the culprit behind the Heartless."

"What the Hell is a Heartless?" Ash asked as he placed his sword into his belt.

"The Heartless are beings that don't have a heart." Goofy said. "Without one, they don't have the will to resist the orders of their maker."

"Well, who is it?" Ash asked.

"Maleficent." Donald said. "She is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the universe."

"Whatever duck," Ash replied. "I have been to several worlds now and I haven't seen anything that I would call a Heartless."

"That means that her magic hasn't effected all of the worlds yet." Sora said happily.

"Yeah, great." Ash said. "But, we have to deal with it."

"Don't think you can handle it." Donald said crossing his arms.

"Hey, I've handled everything from Metalheads to giant spiders. I think I can manage." The four exited the ship and headed across the mirrored land to a huge castle in the distance. Ash looked into the mirror at the reflection of himself, Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Never thought I'd save the world with a petting zoo."

"Hey Sora," Ash said, breaking the silence. "Why is your sword shaped like a key?"

"Every world has an entrance that is usually locked to certain forces. The Keyblade is the only thing able to lock them again."

"And we're going to find what has been unlocking them." Goofy said.

"Have any idea what is?" Ash asked.

"All we know is that it is a new kind of magic that has been traveling around the universe."

"The Necronomicon."

"The what?" Sora asked.

"The Necronomicon Ex Mortis. A book of pure evil. It's the reason I've been traveling the universe. I bet it's unlocking everything." When Ash finished speaking, Sora's Keyblade began to shine bright.

"Heartless" Goofy yelled as he pointed toward the castle. Ash squinted against the sun reflecting of the mirrored ground. He saw a staggering amount little black creatures walking their way. They hunched forward badly as they moved while the antennas on their head felt the ground.

"They don't look so tough." Ash said as he revved up his saw. The four charged at the small creatures. Ash began to hack his way through the hoard with his chainsaw. He chopped up several of the little black vermin while he blasted even more away with his shotgun. He looked over at Sora and was amazed to see that the teenage boy was dispensing Heartless with little or no effort.

"Looks like you've done this before." Ash said as he blasted yet another Heartless.

"I've had a fair amount of time to practice." Sora replied while Donald fried a dozen Heartless with a lightning bolt and Goofy was slicing them in half with his razor edged shield. Ash turned around to fire into the onslaught of Heartless, but stopped when he saw a black whirling cloud emerge from the mirrored surface. He looked around at the Heartless who were all trembling with fear. When the cloud began to dissipate, the Heartless all sank into the ground like shadows and scurried away. Sora, Donald and Goofy each turned and spoke at the same time.

"Maleficent" The cloud disappeared to reveal five figures standing before them. One was a tall woman, wearing a black cloak and carrying a large, black staff, while the other four were covered in shadows. She stepped forward.

"I'm afraid that you have ventured all this way for nothing." She said. "Fore you see, even as we speak, all the universe is slowly becoming blanketed in the cold grip of darkness."

"What good does it do to destroy everything that exists?" Donald demanded.

"Not destroy," Maleficent replied. "But to engulf in darkness. My cohorts and I thrive in darkness. Don't we?" With that, a very tall and slender man stepped out of the darkness. In his hand he clutched a staff that looked like a cobra.

"Indeed we do." He said.

"Jafarཀ" Sora exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm back." Jafar said in a calm, yet menacing voice. "And I have not forgotten who it was that trapped me inside the lamp." Ash leaned in and whispered to Goofy.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Goofy nodded. "Good, 'cause I don't." Maleficent turned to Ash.

"It seems that a new friend has joined the battle." She said.

"The name's Ash, sweetcakes."

"Such disrespect, madam." Jafar said. "Allow me to teach him the proper etiquette."

"Not yet." Maleficent said. "I know who you are, Ash, and I know why you are here." She opened the palm of here hand to reveal the image of the Necronomicon. "I have been aware of the power that this book holds and of your journeys across the universe. A pity that such a heroic tale is over, but every story has an ending. I think we'll use this as a chance for Doom to prove himself to us." When Maleficent finished speaking another figure emerged from the shadows. He was wearing armor that covered his entire body and was draped in a green cloak. Through the eye holes in his mask, a pair of ominous blue eyes stared at the heroes.

"With pleasure." Doom said as Jafar and Maleficent once again disappeared into a dark cloud.

"So, the tin man's gonna keep us out of Oz. Whatever." Ash said as he pointed his gun at Doom. Sora, Donald and Goofy all readied themselves for battle.

"Do you really think that you are gonna take on the four of us." Sora said.

"I don't intend on engaging you in battle." Doom replied. With that he stepped to the side, as the final shadows were lifted.

"Oh no." Donald said. Upon identifying the last to figures.

"What have you done to our friends?" Goofy demanded while Sora lowered his blade. Ash looked into the lifeless, clouded eyes of the two deadites in front of him.

"Beast. Genie." Sora said sadly. Ash turned to him.

"You know these guys?"

"Yeah, they're our friends. We can't hurt them."

"Well I don't know 'em." Ash drew his sword and started his saw as he advanced toward the two. Beast crouched down and let out a loud roar while magic began to swirl around Genie's hands. Ash also let out a yell and began to charge. Beast lunged forward and took a huge swipe at Ash with his lion like paw. Ash managed to duck the blow and slash his blade down the Beast's forearm. He reeled back with his chainsaw only to be struck in the back by a blast of blue magic that knocked him to the ground. Beast then picked him up and roared into his face. Ash was shaken until he dropped his weapons to the ground. Beast brought Ash up to his face.

"Hey ugly," Ash said. "It's not nice to stare." Ash pulled his robotic hand back and swung with all his might, striking Beast in the eye. Ash was dropped to the mirrored ground while the hulking animal covered his eye. Ash was then clenched around the waist by an invisible power. He looked up tp see Genie transform his right hand into a mallet and raise it above his head. Ash struggled to free himself, but was unable to break his bonds. Genie's hand began to come down with a force that would most certainly kill the hero, but was stopped in mid stroke by a slash from the Keyblade.

"Friend or not," Sora said. "They have to be stopped." Donald unleashed a lightning strike that knocked Genie back and released Ash. Sora jumped in and began slashing at his big blue friend while Goofy and Donald turned their attention to Beast. Ash gathered up his weapons and joined the fray. Sora slashed with the Keyblade, knocking Genie to one side. Ash immediately fired off a round form his shotgun that toppled the magical creature. Sora then jumped in and struck him on the side of the head. He reeled back for another blow, when he noticed Genie's eyes clear.

"Sora?" he said softly.

"Ash." Sora said. "He's back to normal."

"Great." Ash said sarcastically. "Now what about him?" Sora turned to see Beast take a swipe that knocked Donald and Goofy through the air.

"We'll help him to." Sora replied. "Hang on Genie, we'll get you guys out of this." Sora left the exhausted Genie and he and Ash headed toward Beast. Ash ducked under a huge fist and swung up with his metallic hand, striking Beast in the jaw. Beast's head popped up and Ash swung with his fist again, this time hitting him in the kneecap. Beast fell to one knee and Ash ducked down. Sora came running and jumped off of Ash's back. He flipped over once in the air and reached out with his Keyblade and caught Beast on the back of the head. Beast's eyes suddenly cleared and he collapsed to the mirrored ground.

"Impressive." Doom said as all four heroes turned their attention to him. "But now you deal with me." He caught Ash with a backhand that sent him skidding across the mirror. Donald let out another lightning bolt that hit Doom in the chest and knocked him back a step.

"I dabble in magic a little myself." he said through his mask before hitting Donald with a bright blast from his hands. Goofy shielded himself from the attack and sprinted toward their adversary. Doom grabbed Beast by the wrist and effortlessly tossed him into Goofy. Donald was also hit as Goofy and Beast skidded upon the mirror. Doom turned swiftly and used his armor covered forearm to block a blow from the Keyblade. He then grabbed Sora around the throat and lifted him into the air. A shot rang through the air as Doom was hit in the shoulder by a slug. Sora fell to the ground gasping for air as Doom turned to Ash.

"Tell me stranger," he said. "Do you really think you can defeat me?" Ash blew the smoke out of the end of his barrel.

"Oh, I might give it a shot." Ash hit Doom with another blast from his gun that struck him in the chest. Doom then let loose another shot of energy that knocked Ash's gun from his hand. Doom then ducked under the buzzing of a whirling chainsaw and came up with a fist that just glanced off of Ash's jaw. The chainsaw came back again and hit Doom in the side. Sparks flew as the chain ground on Doom's armor. Ash was then hit in the chest with a blast that sent him once again sliding on the mirror. More sparks flew as Doom was hit in the side with the Keyblade. He grabbed Sora by his shirt and slammed him hard into the ground. Donald and Goofy then lashed out at Doom with magic and shield attacks. Doom leapt into the air and landed by the unconscious Beast and Genie.

"I grow weary of this." He said. Ash finally stopped skidding and watched from a distance as a huge sphere of energy erupted from Doom. Ash's hair was blown back by the blast. When it cleared, all of Ash's allies were on the ground, unconscious. Doom then wrapped them all in shadow and they disappeared.

"Heyཀ" Ash yelled. "Why don't you try that with me?" Ash gathered up his gun and headed toward Doom. He put his Deadly Nightblade into his belt and started up his saw. Energy coursed into Doom's hands as he and Ash neared each other. A yellow sphere appeared on each of his fists, and he swung at Ash with his left. The energy was harmlessly discharged as Ash moved to right of it and hit Doom in the face with the spinning chain of his saw. Doom stepped back.

"It's a good thing I took shop class." Ash said upon seeing the large gouge he had put in Doom's mask. Ash raised his gun and fired, but Doom swiftly moved to the side and lunged at Ash, grabbing him around the throat with his left hand. He brought Ash in close and looked into his eyes.

"This ends." Doom swung up with his right hand. The energy on his fist exploded and sent Ash hurling high into the air, causing him to drop his gun and saw. Doom quickly immersed himself in a shadow, along with Ash's weapons, and vanished. Ash flew farther and farther before finally losing altitude and crashing violently through the mirrored ground. Beneath the mirror, lay an ocean that Ash was quickly sinking into. The blow he was dealt left him unable to swim and he helplessly awaited drowning. He was near unconsciousness when he felt something grab him beneath his arms. He tried to focus his eyes under the water but couldn't make out who or what had a hold of him. He closed his eyes as he felt what he thought was a pair of lips touch his and air filled his lungs. The pressure of the water was lifted and Ash drew another breath, this time in his own. He was breathing under water. He opened his eyes in amazement at the fact. He was also able to see perfectly clear in the murky depths. He looked around him and met eyes with an extremely beautiful redhead staring back at him with a pair of enchanting blue eyes. She grabbed his hand with hers before speaking.

"Come with me, it's to dangerous out here." She began to swim faster than Ash had ever imagined. "My name is Ariel."

"Ash." he said before his eyes widened in surprise that he was able to speak. He quickly regained his coolness. "Were are we going darlin'?"

"A safe place. Maleficent has been trying to find me for along time, and I bet she's looking for you to."

"Well I'm glad you found me, but how am I able to survive down here."

"The mermaid's kiss will allow you to survive under water for the rest of your life."

"Cool." Ariel finally stopped in front of a large stone. She rolled it aside and she and Ash entered a small cave. Ariel replaced the stone and the two swam for a few yards before emerging into a very brightly lit room. A hole in the very top of the cave poured in sunlight and all over the wall were objects from the surface world.

"As much as I'd like to stay," Ash said. "I got a few friends of mine up above that need my help."

"You're talking about Sora, Donald and Goofy aren't you?"

"Some guy named Doom has them."

"Doom? This is bad."

"What?"

"It seems Maleficent has been unlocking worlds. And when that happens, she is able to transport other beings around as well. But she can't control it very well. Now that she has misplaced someone, other people will start to be pulled from their worlds and placed on others at random."

"So at any time, you or me might be shipped to another world."

"Yes, and there are worlds out there that are more horrible than anything you could imagine."

"How do you know all this?"

"My father, King Triton, has told me. He and King Mickey are very knowledgeable about the universe."

"Well that's just great. How do I find your father or King Mickey."

"My father knows that you are here. He is swimming this way as we speak. As for King Mickey, I'm not sure were he is."

"Well I suppose we gotta wait it out, huh? At least the company's good. So why does Maleficent need you."

"The heart of a princess is required to unlock the rest of the worlds."

"I get it. She's gonna use your heart to unlock everything and the Necronomicon to travel around. That's some plan." After he finished speaking, the roof of Ariel's cave was blown open. Ash pulled her out of the way of some falling rubble and looked up. Above them he saw a huge red being that resembled Genie.

"Jafarཀ" Ariel yelled.

"That's Jafar. You do know, that steroids shrink your grapefruit." Jafar reached his hand into the cave. Ariel tried to swim away, but she was caught by the evil genie. Ash swam in her direction but was unable to reach her in time.

"You bastardཀ Give her back." Ash said. Jafar looked down at the small threat and laughed before he smashed his fist into the side of the cave, burying Ash in stone. Jafar laughed again as he flew off with the princess in his hand. Down below, the weight of the debris was making it hard for Ash to draw a breath. He was unable to move the heavy weight that was slowly crushing him. He gave one last mighty shove, and the entire mound was lifted off of him.

"Guess I'm stronger than I thought." He told himself, somewhat smug about it.

"Actually," A voice said behind him. "That was me." Ash turned to see a large merman with a long grey beard, a crown and a golden trident. "I'm to late, aren't I?" He said, sadness on his face.

"Either you're King Triton or the ocean has it's very own Santa Clause." Ash asked.

"The very same. I know you Ash. King Mickey and I have observed your trek across the universe. You are the only one that can stop it's destruction."

"Sure pops, I'm gonna save the universe. Saving the world I can do, but a whole universe? I think that's a little much, even for me." Triton's face turned to anger.

"You mustཀ Why else would the Necronomicon try to escape from you. It knows that in your heart alone lies the power to destroy it."

"And how do I do that? I'm not exactly an expert on all of this magical, world travel stuff."

"There I cannot help you."

"Figures."

"Only King Mickey knows the answer to that. But I can help you defeat Maleficent." Triton opened his right hand. A small swirl of water manifested in his palm. The swirl stopped to reveal a chain with a large circle that had two smaller circles on top of it.

"This," Triton continued. "Is the Kingdom Chain. It has the ability to render harmful magic useless. Attach it to your blade and you will be invulnerable to the magic of the likes of Jafar and Maleficent." The chain floated over to Ash. He snatched it out of the water and attached it to the hilt of his sword.

"Sweet." Ash turned to swim to the surface when Triton stopped him.

"You will also need this." Triton produced a black lamp. "Jafar hid this in my ocean so that he could never be captive again. It took a long time, but I managed to find it. Just rub it and he will be captive forever."

"Thanks pops. I got work to do." As Ash swam to the surface, he heard Triton's voice one last time.

"Please, return my daughter safely." Ash swam as fast as he could until his arms ached. He was nearly exhausted when his head smashed into the bottom of the mirrored ground. After rubbing his melon, Ash began to punch with his robotic hand until the mirror broke and Ash climbed back onto dry land. He stood up and found himself right at the castle gates.

"What luck. Guess I'd better knock." Three hard pounds with his metal hand and the heavy doors opened enough for Ash to squeeze through. He entered the castle and proceeded down a long hallway, making several turns along the way. He jumped when he heard footsteps echoing from an adjacent hallway and ducked behind a large, decorative suit of armor. He watched as several Heartless walked right past him and head down the hall. Ash began to quietly move on when he heard sounds of a struggle. He turned to see a small figure swiftly destroy the Heartless and round a different corner. Ash decided to follow him. He rounded the same corner and entered a big poorly lit room. He took one step and he faintly caught a metallic flash of light. He quickly blocked with his sword and stepped back.

"Who are you?" a high pitched voice said as Ash blocked another swing.

"Why don't you quit swinging at me, and I'll tell you." The attack stopped and a light was conjured in his assailants hand.

"Ashཀ" the little figure said excitedly.

"You must be King Mickey."

"Yep." The three foot tall mouse replied. "I'm so glad to finally meet you." The King's eyes noticed the Kingdom Chain dangling from Ash's sword. "I see you've already met Triton."

"Yeah, me and old man river had a nice talk."

"And Ariel? Is she okay?"

"Jafar has her." A look of shock appeared on the King's face.

"We've got to stop them."

"Go ahead and try." A booming voice said as light was forced into the room. Ash and Mickey looked up to see Jafar looming over them. "It will take a lot more than a couple of mice to stop the power of a Genie."

"What? And you're the big cherry tomato that's gonna take us down. Come get some." Jafar unleashed a blast of magical energy at Mickey. Ash stepped in front of it and completely blocked it with his body. "Uh-uh."

"How is this possible?" Jafar inquired frantically. He fired another that Ash blocked again.

"Huh. The God Damn thing works good. Mickey, go find the others. This guy is just beggin' to get to know me better."

"Good luck Ash." Mickey said as he ran off, dodging some of Jafar's attacks.

"Alright big red." Ash said to the genie. "It's just you and me."

"I will find a way around that accursed Kingdom Chain."

"Yeah, yeah. You're boring the audience. Let's tango." Jafar punched down at the hero with all his might. Ash was able to sidestep his fist and slash his Nightblade down the back of his giant hand. Jafar grasped his hand in pain as the power of the Kingdom Chain made itself known. Jafar tried once more with a sphere of magic. Ash readied himself like he was up to bat and swung his sword around, deflecting the energy back. The sphere knocked Jafar into the wall opposite Ash.

"Home run." Ash approached the fallen genie. "And the crowd goes wild." Jafar quickly created fire that grazed Ash's arm and caused him to drop his sword. He then grabbed Ash in his fist and brought him up to his face.

"It appears that you've lost your little toy." He said with a menacing grin.

"Ya know," Ash said as he reached his hand into his shadow pocket. "The only way you could be dumber is if you were bigger." Ash wriggled his arm free and showed the black lamp to Jafar. "Heads up, buttercup." Ash rubbed it with his five o'clock shadow. Jafar tried desperately to escape the room, but the pull of the lamp was to strong. Jafar was sucked inside of it and trapped again.

"What a life." Ash said as he replaced the lamp in his pocket. "Phenomenal cosmic power. Itty bitty living space."

Ash wandered around the castle for what seemed like hours before he heard voices. As he neared them he identified King Mickey.

"What makes you think you'll get away with this?" To which Maleficent replied.

"I have the book and the heart of a princess, I've already won." Ash made his way toward the voices and emerged through a doorway that led him to a balcony. Below, he saw Maleficent, book in hand, and Doom, both of whom were facing their captives. Sora, Donald and Goofy were bound to the wall by magic, while Genie and Beast were held inside two floating spheres and Ariel, arms bound in chain, floated helplessly in a small tank of water, all of them, unconscious. King Mickey was lying on the floor, his sword under Doom's feet and blood on the corner of his mouth. Ash then looked directly below, and on the floor, 20 feet down, were his shotgun and chainsaw. A smile appeared on Ash's face as he began to silently climb his way down on a large cloth banner. On the other side of the room, Maleficent continued.

"You see, Mickey." She said as she looked up at a swirling, dark vortex that had opened in the room. "The paths between worlds are now open to me. There is nothing to stop the darkness from covering the universe." As soon as she finished speaking, a shotgun blast knocked the book from her hand.

"Lady," Ash said from across the room as he pointed his gun. "You are one messed up bitch." He shifted his gun over and fired again, catching Doom in the forehead and adding another blemish to the face piece. Doom staggered back allowing Mickey to regain his sword and catch the armored adversary in the face with the blade. Mickey then ran to Ash's side.

"Let the girl go." Ash demanded, pointing his gun at Maleficent. "And the boy, and the duck... you know what I mean."

"You're to late." She replied as a flash of light emerged from the black opening and struck Ariel in the chest while another hit the book. The lights then came together into a black sphere. It floated over to Maleficent and bathed her in a creeping shadow. Mickey ran forward and knocked the book away from Maleficent.

"Fools," She said. "I no longer need the Necronomicon. The power of the universe now resides in me." Doom stepped into the crawling shadow as well. The two villains then unleashed a dark blast strait up that made it's way through the castle and struck the sky.

"This world," Doom said. "Shall be destroyed, along with you." Doom and Maleficent disappeared into darkness. As soon as they departed, their captives were released of their bonds and opened their eyes.

"We better get going." Ash said as the ground began to shake. Ash ran over and picked up Ariel and hoisted her over his shoulder, her fish like tail had been replaced by legs. Ash looked perplexed and King Mickey ran up next to him holding the Necronomicon.

"She has lost her princess heart to the dark." He said. "She'll be okay, but won't be able to return to her world without it."

"Bummer," Ash said as he eyed Ariel's new appendages. "That's a shame."

"Hey," Sora said. "You gonna talk all day or are we gonna get out of here."

"Let's boogie." Ash said. He led the party out of the castle. He turned and watched as it crumbled to the ground.

"Follow me." Beast said as he charged forward, decimating several stray heartless that blocked their path.

"What about Triton?" Mickey asked as they neared the Gummi Ship.

"Way ahead of ya." Genie said as he poofed away in a puff of magic. He returned only seconds later with King Triton in a giant fishbowl.

"Everybody on." Donald said. Ash looked behind him to see that the mirrored landscape was breaking apart and falling into the ocean below. They all entered the ship and shut the doors.

"Contact." Goofy said as he sat down in the pilots seat.

"Hang onཀ" Genie yelled as he magically started the engines. They took off just in time to see the rest of the mirror fall into the dark water below. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Genie made his way back inside. Sora, Donald and Goofy piloted them out of harms way. Ash looked out of a window in time to watch the world they had just escaped, become engulfed in darkness.

"Ash," Mickey said as he approached the hero. "I know this isn't fair, but I'm afraid that you're the only person who can stop Maleficent."

"Figures." He replied. "Is Ariel alright."

"The only thing Maleficent took was the magic of being a princess." Mickey replied.

"Maleficent is now the key to locking the worlds again." Triton said from his glass prison. "Destroy her and everything will be returned." He sadly looked at his daughter, who was trying to learn to walk. In the corner, Beast was cleaning his wounds while Genie floated around the ship, exploring.

"Ash," Mickey said. "Take this." He handed him a bright green gem. "It's a summon stone. Every heart that you touch on your travels is connected to you through this. You may need help one day."

"Come on," Ash said. "Me, need help." Ash placed the stone in his shadow pocket. "One more thing. Triton tells me that you know how to stop the book." Mickey handed him the Necronomicon before saying.

"All I know, is that the secret to stopping it, lies within you."

"Gee, thanks." Everyone on board watched as Ash was pulled into the blue vortex.

Doom and Maleficent emerged from the shadows into a very large, dark room.

"I hope that you have kept your end of the bargain." She said to her ally.

"As promised." he replied as he flipped a large switch and lit up the room. Around them were a nearly countless amount of Fifty foot tall machines. Humanoid in appearance and covered in red and silver metal. Doom continued.

"You give me the power to travel through the universe. I provide you with an army."

"An unlimited supply of force." Maleficent said as a dark smile appeared on her face. After a moment of silence, she silently spoke the word. "Sentinels."

Ash open his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. He was under water in a brightly colored environment. He was in view of a barnacle covered sign that read Bikini Bottom. He began to make his way through an underwater town that looked as though it had been build with sunken junk. The buildings looked to be old mufflers and the local restaurant was an old chest.

"What kind of a place is this?" Ash asked himself. He spun around at the sound of a high pitched voice.

"Hi," Ash looked down at a strange, square, yellow creature. "I'm Spongebob."

Ash opened his eyes yet again. It had been a dream. He was standing in a heavy jungle, surrounded by over grown trees and vines. He jumped back as a large snake slithered past his feet. He pulled out his sword and cut the reptile in half.

"That'll teach ya." Ash put his sword away and began to make his way through the underbrush. He had been walking for a while when he heard a soft sound that came from behind him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, readying to start his saw. He stood silent for a moment, listening. As he stared into the heavy growth of the jungle, the leaves to his right burst open. Ash turned and was face to face with a dinosaur. A raptor to be exact. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever until the animal pounced, knocking Ash to the ground. He lost hold of his chain saw and it rolled beyond his reach. The raptor struggled to bite it's prey but Ash was able to punch it in to throat with his mechanical hand and heave the animal off of him. He stood up and pulled out his gun. A loud blast signaled the end of his attacker as blood gushed from the wound in it's neck. Another raptor then ran through the trees behind him. Ash was once again knocked to the ground, he lost his gun but was able to pull his sword as he fell. The dinosaur jumped at Ash with his mouth open. Ash stuck his Deadly Nightblade into the air that entered it's mouth and emerged through the back of the dino's head.

"Now," Ash said, out of breath. "You're extinct."


	8. JurrAshic

Chapter 8. JurrAshic

Ash had been wandering through the jungle for hours, using his sword to hack away the bush that stood in his way. Sweat ran down his face as the humidity combined with the jungle heat beat upon him. He finally stopped and sat down for a minute.

"This is the worst vacation ever." he said to himself as he wiped his brow. "Christ it's hot here." He rose back to his feet and continued on. After walking a few hundred yards, a loud roar caught his attention. He listened intently as he tried to focus on the direction it was coming from. He finally determined to go left. He hacked through the brush, making his way to the sound. He slashed through several vines and emerged into a clearing. He laid his eyes upon three sabertooth tigers that were feasting on their latest kill. They picked up their heads and looked in the hero's direction.

"Nice kitties." Ash said. The three animals, blood dripping from their large fangs, began a slow march toward Ash. "Time to clean the litter box." He pulled his gun and fired. One of the cats fell to the ground. The other two then began to sprint toward him. Ash struggled to get another slug into his gun but was knocked to the ground as one of the cats pounced on him. His gun and saw were out of reach as he fought for his life. He was using his left hand to gouge at his attackers eyes while he swung his iron fist around, catching the animal in the side of the head. The cat rolled off of him and was slow to get up. Ash was able to draw one breath before the other cat was upon him. It open it's jaws wide and thrust down for Ash's jugular. The cats elongated teeth grazed his neck when a deafening blast rang in his ears. The animal slumped onto him, dead. Ash shoved the sabertooth off of him and got up.

"Don't move." a voice said seconds before a second shot rang out. Killing the other animal. Ash brought his eyes up to meet with those of a beautiful redhead wearing a skintight black uniform. On her person she carried several weapons. Ash identified a machine gun, two pistols, a flame thrower and a rocket launcher as well as the shotgun she held in his direction. "How did you get here?"

"I'm Ash." he said with a smoothness only Ash could pull off with a gun in his face.

"How did you get here?" she repeated with a more threatening tone.

"I was transported here by a blue vortex." She lowered her weapon.

"Regina." she replied. "I got here the same way."

After taking a few minutes to explain their current state. Regina and Ash began to venture on as she told him of her situation before she was taken from her world. Ash had barely been listening as he walked behind her and studied her "features". The two continued to walk into the clearing, staying close to the jungle that surrounded it so as not to be in the open. Around them, small creatures slithered and crawled along the ground while a flock of large birds passed by over head. Ash gazed up into the sky at them.

"Those have got to be the ugliest birds I have ever seen." Regina looked up as well.

"Those aren't birds." she replied bluntly. With that, Ash noticed one of them snap it's long head in their direction. It swooped out of the flock and dove down toward them. As it neared, Ash identified them.

"Pterodactyls," he said. "You've got to be kidding me." He pulled his shotgun and fired, clipping it's wing, causing it to flutter to the ground. A second shot was fired by Regina. The animal twitched for a moment, then ceased all movement.

"Run." Regina said. Ash turned and looked into the sky. All the noise had caught the attention of the rest of them. Around a dozen or so, he estimated. He fired one more shot into the air before taking off behind Regina. Ahead of him, the redhead ducked under the large swopping wings of the beast, she cocked her shotgun and blast it from behind. Ash had to sidestep to his right to avoid tripping over the carcass. Three of the animals landed to feast upon their fallen comrade while the others continued their pursuit.

"Damn." Regina said as she reached for another shotgun shell only to find that her supply had run out. She stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Duck!" Ash crouched just in time to miss the butt of a shotgun as Regina swung with all her might. The weapon shattered as it cracked into the skull of one of their pursuers.

"A girl after my own heart." Regina then pulled her machine gun and fired into the flock. Four bullet riddled bodies fell to the green grass. With three more animals closing fast, Ash stopped and started his saw. "Time to get messy." He revved it up and swung. The chain effortlessly cut through the soft flesh of a leather like wing, sending the beast crashing into the ground. Ash and Regina readied for the last two, when an arrow whistled through the air, piercing the heart of one of the winged creatures. Immediately following, Ash caught a brief glimmer of sunlight reflecting off steel just before the final attacker fell to the ground, a sharp sai buried into it's chest. Ash and Regina both fired a shot into the one that Ash had winged before they turned around.

"Not a bad shot." a voice said.

"Not a bad throw." another replied. Ash and Regina watched as two figures emerged from the jungle. One was tall with long white hair, human but with pointed ears. The other looked like a bipedal turtle.

"You two are a bit of an odd couple." Ash said to the pair.

"What?" the terrapin with the red bandana said. "Haven't you ever seen a talking turtle before?"

"Or an elf?" the other added.

"Hasn't everybody?" The elf spoke to Ash.

"My name is Legolas."

"I'm Raphael."

"I'm Ash, and this is Regina."

"We know." Raph said. "We've been watching you since you got here."

"Were the hell were you when those things first started to attack." Regina asked.

"We wanted to make sure you weren't with Sauron." Legolas replied. "Raphael and I crossed his path once already and barely escaped with our lives."

"Sauron?" Ash and Regina asked at the same time.

"He claims to rule this dump." Raph went on. "He calls it the Savage Land. He grabbed hold of elf boy here and nearly killed him."

"It seemed as though he was draining my life."

"Sounds like a big push over to me." Ash said confidently. "How long have you to been here."

"We both arrived only hours ago." Legolas said. "It seemed as though Sauron new we were coming."

"Yeah." Raph added. "We barely had time to stand up before the bastard was on us."

"Well," Ash said. "Time to save another world."

"Do you even know were we are going?" Raph groaned. "We've been wandering for hours."

"Keep your shell on." Ash replied. "I seriously doubt any of you have any better ideas." Regina had been ignoring the pointless banter that the turtle and Ash had been exchanging for quite some time now. She brushed it off as the two trying to pass the time.

"See anything, Legolas?" she asked. The elf had been jumping across the canopy of the trees, trying to get a better look.

"Same as before. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Besides the heat." Regina had finally had enough. Her black suit was getting to much for even her to bear. She unzipped her top, and tossed it to the ground. The black tanktop she wore underneath was very revealing as her skin glistened with sweat. She suddenly noticed that Raphael and Ash had stopped talking.

"What are you looking at?" she looked at Ash.

"Just the only thing in this God forsaken jungle that's worth laying eyes on." Raph rolled his eyes as Regina turned around and continued forth, trying to hide her blushing face. Just then, they heard Legolas.

"You might want to come and look at this." The three made their way towards his voice. Legolas was able to cover a lot of ground jumping from tree to tree, it took the rest of the party a few minutes to reach him. They emerged from behind some very thick foliage and looked around them. As far as their eyes could see lay ice and snow. The jungle was in the middle of a snow covered wasteland.

"Who puts a jungle in the middle of Antarctica?" Ash said. Regina crossed her arms and tried to hide her shivers.

"God Damn it's cold." Raphael said, his cold blooded body feeling it the most.

"Let's turn back." Ash said. The four turned to retreat into the jungle. As they neared the foliage that they emerged from, the ground began to shake. They looked behind them, the snow was rising. The powder fell away as a huge creature made of ice stood before them. It stood at least twenty feet high as it glared down at the four with two ice blue eyes.

"Back to the jungle." Ash ordered. They turned toward the jungle to find that the way they came was blocked by ice. Ash continued. "New plan, kick some ass." The four ran at the beast. Regina armed herself with her flame thrower, a small flame danced on the tip while Ash revved up his saw. Raph and Legolas were the first to engage the beast. The turtle slid underneath a huge icy fist and stabbed the back of the ice titan's leg. He used his sais to climb hand over hand while Legolas drew an arrow. He fired with the precision that only an elf could manage. The arrow pierced one of the giant's eyes. It's head snapped back in pain. Ash fired his shotgun at the blue heart that lay beneath the ice of it's chest. Raph had made his way to the giant's shoulders and buried a sai deep in the back of it's neck. He held on with all his might as the titan spun quickly, trying to shake off the turtle.

"Leg." Ash said. "Fire, arrow, do it." Legolas ran over tp Regina and lit the tip of an arrow with her flame. He pulled it back and aimed at the beast's heart.

"I can't get a shot."

"Shoot at Raph." Both Legolas and Regina looked at Ash hesitantly. "Do it. Raph, catch." Raphael looked up just in time to see a flaming arrow racing toward him. He barely had time to dodge to the side and catch it in his left hand. He pulled out his sai and leapt down. As he fell passed that titan's chest, he thrust the arrow into it, piercing the blue heart that beat beneath. He fell to the snow below and scrambled to the others. The giant roared in pain as in collapsed to it's knees.

"Regina, you're up." Ash said.

"With pleasure." She pulled the trigger of her weapon and unleashed a blast of flame. The ice titan roared it's last as it melted into a steaming puddle.

"That wasn't so bad." Ash said.

"Easy for you to say." Raph replied. "You weren't the one riding it."

"Hey guys," Regina said. "I think we should get back." Ash and Raph looked out into the snow. Dozens of other titans had heard the cries of the first and were rising from the ice.

"I agree." Legolas said as Regina pulled to grenades from her belt. She pulled the pins and threw them as far as she could. Ash led the way as he cut through the ice blocking their path with his saw. As the four made it back into the jungle, the grenades exploded, ice pelting their backs. Once back in the jungle, Ash eyed Regina. He thought to himself.

"Tic tacs, sweet." The four ran through the jungle until once again emerging into a clearing. They were catching their breath, when they heard a screeching voice.

"The Savage Land does not take kindly to strangers." They looked into the sky and saw another pterodactyl, but this one was different. It had a human-like body, but with a tail and the oblonged head. In the talons of his foot, he clutched the Necronomicon. He hovered in the air just above them.

"All intruders will be destroyed." Raphael and Legolas spoke at the same time.

"Sauron."

"So this is Sauron." Ash said. "Let's feed the birds." He pulled his gun and fired, Regina did the same. Sauron expertly dodged the barrage of bullets and swooped down at the four below. Ash was hit with a scaley fist that knocked him to his back. Sauron landed on top of the hero and swung his tail around, toppling Regina to the ground. An arrow found it's way through Sauron's hide causing a screech of pain.

"Hey tweety," Raph said. "Remember us?"

"How could I forget?" Sauron said as he pulled the arrow from his side. He flapped his huge wings and climbed into the air. He dodged another arrow before he swooped down yet again. Legolas jumped out of his way and landed on his back. He grabbed a knife from his boot and attempted to slash down. Sauron reached back with his hand and grabbed the elf. Legolas was thrown to the ground while Raph leapt into the air. Ash was amazed at how the turtle could jump. Raph spun around and kicked Sauron hard in the side of the head. Raph landed on the ground and drew a sai. With a swift flap of his wings, Sauron dodged the sharp tip of the turtle's weapon, and came down hard on the back of Raphael's head with a fist. Raph staggered forward as Ash tackled the green creature. Sauron flew high into the air, dodging more bullets and arrows as he wrapped his taloned hands around Ash's head.

"Not on the first date." Ash said as he hit Sauron in the stomach with his hard iron fist. Sauron maintained his grip as a yellow light began to glow around his hands. Ash felt himself weaken as Sauron drained his life. Ash went limp as felt as though he was going to die. The world around him started to go black when he barely heard Sauron scream in pain. He let go and Ash fell to the hard ground. He looked up to see blood running from Sauron's side, an arrow had pierced through his leathery hide. As quickly as he had made himself known, he soared away.

"Ash." Regina said, running to his aid. She knelt down and picked up his head.

"He's, old." Raph added upon seeing Ash's face. Legolas knelt down and put his hand on Ash's chest.

"He'll be alright, in time."

"So," Ash said to Regina. "I guess I'm not pretty anymore." The three helped him to his feet. "That bird's made a big mistake. At least I'll be the hottest grandpa at the bingo hall." Ash leaned on Legolas and Raph as the four made their way in Sauron's direction.

Every bone in his body ached as Ash tried to walk with the aid of Legolas and Raph as Regina led the way through the jungle. The other three had been silent, trying to listen for any signs of Sauron. The only sound was an occasional groan from Ash as his arthritis riddled joints hurt him with every step. Ahead of them the sky had turned ominously black. Lightning struck all around the Savage Land, starting numerous fires. Thunder rolled overhead when they heard a screeching laugh cut through the air. After a few mor painful steps, they came to a large collection of boulders. In the center, Sauron stood, the book open at his feet. He looked at the aged Ash with his yellow eyes.

"It seems you are the key to this book. You energy has allowed me to open it's power." He pointed a long, clawed finger toward the trees. The ground shook as if something big was coming. The trees burst forth and a huge T-Rex emerged, eyes clouded white under the power of the book.

"Set him down." Regina said. Raph and Legolas helped Ash sit down on a rock. They gave him his weapons and joined Regina at her side.

"Alright," Raphael said. "Let's see if we can do this without getting eaten." He drew his sais as he gritted his teeth. Legolas readied an arrow and pulled it back.

"Fire away E. L. Fudge." Ash said with a raspy voice. Legolas let go of the string, the arrow flew through the air, burying itself into the hide of the carnivore's neck. Legolas, Regina and Raphael charged toward the beast as Sauron watched in delight. Raphael barely dodged the swift snap of the reptiles sharp teeth and grabbed hold of a nostril. The animal thrust it's head into the air, tossing Raph like a rag doll. He managed to hand on long enough to stab hard into the clouded eye of the beast. He released his grip and fell to the ground. The turtle rolled up onto all fours. Legolas placed a foot on the turtle's back and jumped into the air, blade drawn. He climbed onto the snout of the T-Rex and thrust his blade into it's other eye. Blinded, the beast snapped it's teeth wildly, trying in vain to catch a hold of it's adversaries.

"Regina," Legolas yelled. "Now." Regina cocked her rocket launcher, aimed and fired. Legolas leapt out of the way as the projectile rocketed at the beast. The T-Rex was struck in the side of the head. Blood exploded everywhere as the massive creature crashed to the ground in a heap. The smell of burning flesh hung in the air. Ash looked at Sauron who's face showed anger.

"I'll feast on the rest of your power." He swooped into the air and made his way toward Ash. Upon Sauron's arrival, Ash rolled off of his rock, not very gracefully, and dodged the attack. Sauron flew back into the air while Ash placed his hand in his shadow pocket. Sauron made his way toward Ash again and landed right on top of him.

"Your life is mine."

"I thought you'd say that." Ash pulled out the crooked bottle and tipped it back. Youth raced through his veins as he was restored to his handsome young self. Ash hit Sauron in the jaw with his mechanical fist.

"We had the whole thing planned." Raph said.

"And it seems that you've left your book." Legolas added stepping aside, Regina stood behind him, holding the Necronomicon.

"Missing something?" she said.

"Don't you just love her?" Ash said, cocking his gun. Sauron's eyes widened at the realization of his defeat. He spread his wings to fly, but was grabbed around the throat by the unimaginable grip of Ash's hand. Ash pointed his gun in Sauron's face.

"Bye, bye birdie." he fired. Sauron fell to the ground. Ash turned to his allies.

"Time for me to go."

"How do we get home?" Raphael said.

"Apparently," Ash replied. "I'm the only one who knows how to return everything to normal. But I don't know how I know." Ash shook hands with Raph and Legolas before turning to Regina.

"It's been my pleasure." he said. Regina handed him the book.

"Goodbye, Ash." The blue vortex appeared and Ash was gone.

"I hope he's right." Legolas said as the vortex disappeared. The three left Sauron's body to the scavengers and walked into the jungle. Not knowing what was to happen.

Ash surveyed his surroundings. He was in a very long and dark valley that led to a huge building. He looked up at the sky. He saw a planet with bright rings surrounding it.

"Saturn?" Ash said to himself. Behind him he heard footsteps. "Doom and Maleficent!?" Ash pulled out his gun and fired. The two didn't even notice the noise that echoed through the steel valley. He looked inquisitively at his gun.

"What the hell?" Doom and Maleficent walked right through him. "I'm not even here. Charles Dickens much?" He decided to follow the two. The villains were silent as the made their way to the huge doors at the end of the passage. They opened and Ash followed them inside. They enter a brightly lit room with a throne in the middle of it.

"Thanos, scourge of the cosmos." Maleficent said to the being sitting in the golden seat.

"I know of you Maleficent." Thanos said. "What brings you to the dead moon of Titan."

"Doom has informed me of the death of your own civilization by your own hand. That is a quality that I admire greatly."

"Answer the question." Thanos demanded.

"Doom." Maleficent gestured to here partner. Doom stepped forward and opened his right hind.

"This," Doom said as an image conjured in his palm. "Is the AutoBot Matrix. It holds the power to control the most powerful machine in the universe, Unicron." Thanos sat forward in his throne, intrigued.

"All you have to do," Maleficent said. "Is obtain this object. The power of Unicron will aid me in blanketing the universe in darkness."

"What's in it for me?"

"If you assist me, once the universe is blackened by evil, you will be able to use Unicron to destroy all life." Doom closed his hand and the image disappeared. Thanos sat for a moment thinking, while Ash said to himself.

"The whole universe. This lady's even more messed up then I thought." Thanos stood up.

"Were do I find this, Matrix?"

Ash looked around, all over bodies littered the ground. He bent down to look closer, all of the bodies had puncture marks on their necks. As he was inspecting a body, one of the other corpse's sat up behind him and made it's way to it's feet. Ash turned and was attacked. The creature wrestled him to the ground and opened it's mouth. Ash noticed that it had a pair of fangs as it tried to bite it's neck. Ash punched the undead vampire repeatedly in the head before he was finally freed.

"Open wide." Ash said as he pointed his gun at the assailant. Ash was then splattered with blood as something ripped through the vampire's chest. The blood sucker fell to the ground, it's heart still beating in front of him. Ash bent down and looked at the object that tore through it's chest. It seemed to be a boomerang, in the shape of a bat.


	9. Nos Ver Ashtu

Chapter 9. Nos Ver Ashtu

Ash picked up the blood covered boomerang and studied it. It appeared to be hand made with great care. The black painted metal shined in the light of a nearby torch. Ash looked around, seeking out who, or what had thrown it. He seemed to be in a courtyard of some kind littered by bodies.

"Well, whoever it was, they must be long gone." Ash placed the bat-shaped metal into his Shadow Pocket and looked around some more. In a flash of lightning, a massive castle was lit up in front of him. "Let's see who's home." Ash made his way to a pair of huge oak doors that showed signs of years of decay. Ash pushed on the doors but to no avail. "I never did take no for an answer." He fired up his chainsaw and cut his way in. He grabbed a torch and entered the castle. Behind him, another corpse slowly sat up. It looked around as it made it's way to his feet. It stood up strait and started to make it's way in Ash's direction. After a few steps, a pair of white eyes appeared on the shadows behind the lumbering vampire. A quick shimmer of light reflecting off metal shone in the darkness and dark blood sprayed out of the front of it's neck. With a swift flick of the wrist, the figure in the shadows decapitated the creature and it's body fell to the ground. The figure, wearing a black mask and cape, then thrust his weapon down into the heart of the vampire, impaling it.

Meanwhile, Ash was walking up a long, stone staircase. He was starting to breath heavy because of the weight of his gun, saw and sword.

"I kinda figured that all this hero stuff would get me in better shape." he said as he continued up the long stairs. His steps echoed off of the stone walls while he wiped a little bit of sweat off of his brow. A faint noise made it's way into Ash's ear and he stopped. He turned around and gazed down the stairway. After listening for a moment. He shrugged it off and made his way along. Along the wall to his right, he saw a mural that appeared to have been painted centuries ago. It depicted a lone vampire dressed in a red cloak standing among blood and human corpses.

"I bet that guy was popular." Ash turned his eyes away from the painting and came face to face with a hideous monster. He jumped back and discovered that it was just a statue of a winged demon. "This thing is pretty realistic." He went to take another step when the demons head suddenly snapped in his direction.

"Oh boy." Dust fell from it's stone body as the statue stood up from it's crouching position and stepped off of it's pedestal along the wall. Ash backed down a couple of steps as the grey eyes of the statue lit up into an erie green. "I never was a big art buff." Ash dropped his torch and grabbed his shotgun with his left hand. He fired off a shot that echoed loudly against the stone surrounding him. The demon was hit in the chest, knocking off a chunk of stone. The statue didn't even seem to notice. "That's not good." With amazing speed, the demon swung it clawed, stone hand around. Ash began to tumble down the stairs while his stone adversary continued it's pursuit. Ash lost his gun before he finally came to a stop. He looked up the steps to see the demon walk over his weapon, separating him from his firearm. Ash's back popped as he stood back up.

"Look's like it's time for a little old school." Ash made a fist with his robotic hand and began to swing. He landed a firm shot on the beast's jaw. Small pieces of stone fell to the ground as Ash connected two more hits. The demon then swung it's left hand around and pinned Ash to the wall. It brought it's face to Ash and let out a low growl.

"How does a statue have bad breath?" The statue reeled back with it's other clawed hand. Just then, a hook with a cable attached to it wrapped around the statue's arm. Ash looked down the stairway to see a caped man quickly tie the other end of the cable to a iron hook sticking out of the stone. The figure then sprinted up the stairs. Ash was released and he fell to the ground. He watched as the statue squatted down and opened it's mouth to roar. The caped man jumped into the air, stuffed a small object into the statue's mouth and landed behind it.

"You'd better get down." the stranger said in a low tone as he reached for a small button on his yellow belt. Ash hit the dirt as the button was pushed. The statue's head exploded and fell to the ground. It's body froze in place before it crumbled onto a pile of dust. The caped man then made his way to Ash.

"I appreciate the help, but I had it all under control."

"It looked like it." he replied as he put a hand on Ash's face and pivoted his head left then right.

"Just because you helped me out a little doesn't mean I want to marry you."

"You're clean. Everything in this castle heard that explosion, follow me if you don't want to be seen." Ash picked up his gun and followed him up the stairs. Ash was having a very hard time keeping up with the mysterious stranger in front of him. They reached the top of the stairs and they took a sharp left down a dark hallway. Darting in and out of shadows, up and down long passages in no particular order. All around him, Ash was hearing rustling noises, accompanied by screeches and growls of all kinds. Ash looked behind him to see several dark figures pass through the light of a torch. They appeared to be human but they were moving extraordinarily fast. After several minutes of dodging in the shadows, the mysterious stranger stopped and ducked into some shadows. Ash followed.

"Who are you?" Ash asked quietly. The masked man put his finger up to his lips and gestured out into the hallway. Ash turned just in time to see four pale skinned vampires pass only a few feet were they were hiding. After a moment, Ash question was answered.

"Batman."

"How long have you been here?"

"Only a few hours."

"Only a few hours and you know this whole place?"

"Most of it. Who are you?"

"The names Ash. What's going on here?"

"Vampires."

"Okay... is that all?" Ash asked, a little annoyed at how little this Batman talked.

"They seem to be guarding this place." Just then they heard footsteps and peeked out of the shadows and down the hall. Several vampires had wandered in and were looking right at them. Without a word, Batman emerged and threw a batarang with each hand. Four vampires instantly fell as the sharp metal tore through their hearts. Ash was once again amazed at how fast he was. Ash then moved out and fired a couple of rounds, dropping two more of the undead. Batman jumped over the top of an attacking vampire, grabbed a torch and started it on fire. He then kicked it hard in the back and in staggered into another, catching it on fire as well. The two fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Ash drew his sword and swung it around, decapitating the last assailant. Batman calmly walked over and stabbed it in the chest.

"You have to get 'em in the heart."

"I knew that." The two took off running again. After a few more stairs, they exited through a window and onto the roof. It was raining outside and the wind was very cold. After leaping onto a balcony, they entered through another window. Batman opened the door and looked into the hallway.

"No one's here for now, but it won't be long." He turned to Ash.

"So, Batman, huh? You're mother give you that name."

"Bruce Wayne, and my mother died long ago." Ash suddenly felt a little foolish.

"Oh, sorry. Batman's a good name."

"I use the name and the appearance to induce fear."

"It seems to work. What do we do now?"

"I don't know, these vampires don't seem to speak, so I haven't gotten any information."

"Yeah, they suck." Ash said, amused at his own pun. Batman's expression didn't change, just as serious as ever.

"I suggest we keep moving." The two exited the room and cautiously kept moving.

The two heroes had been sneaking in and out of shadows for over an hour, slowly making their way toward the top of the castle. Along the way, Ash had told the tale of the Book of the Dead and explained how everything had become so misplaced.

"That's some story." Batman said when Ash had finished.

"Yeah, but I make it look easy." They slowly opened a heavy door and peered in. The room was, at one point, a grand ballroom. The floor was covered in a bright red carpet with huge matching drapes and a elegant chandelier adorned the ceiling. Of course, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust that dulled the colors, but, Ash could tell that this was, at one time, quit a room.

"Well, this certainly is a very large room." He said as their steps stirred the dust on the floor.

"Nothing has been in this room for a long time." The two made their way to the canter of the room and Batman stopped. Ash nearly bumped into him.

"Something's coming." The Dark Knight said after a brief silence. Ash looked at the large windows on the other end of the dance floor. Glass was thrown all over the room that forced Batman and Ash to roll out of the way of the shards. They both looked up at the window from the floor. A large man stood before them, his skin very pale and his hair jet-black. He sneered, exposing a sharp fang while his red eyes stared at the heroes.

"The master said you would come." The vampire said. "My name is Sebastian. You have been given to me. The two of you will make excellent slaves."

"Eat me." Ash declared as he and Batman rose to their feet.

"I intend to." Ash pulled his gun and fired. Sebastian disappeared. "Well that was easy."

"Don't believe what you see." Batman said, scanning the whole room. They both looked up at the sound of laughter. Sebastian had made it up onto the chandelier in the blink of an eye.

"I admirer your courage." The vampire said as he stood on the golden steel above the heroes. "It is a marvelous quality for dogs." Sebastian then leaped down onto the floor.

"Hey ugly!" Ash yelled. "We're in the right room. Let's dance." Ash fired toward his adversary. Once again, Sebastian moved out of the way with inhuman speed and made his way toward Ash. He landed a hard fist right on Ash's jaw. He staggered back a step or two and from behind him, Batman leapt into the air and swung at the vampire. The blow was ducked and Sebastian retaliated with another clenched hand that landed in the center of the Dark Knight's stomach. He tried for another blow that Batman dodged and hit the vampire in the side of the head with an elbow. Sebastian stood up strait and crossed his arms.

"No one has hit me in over one hundred years, you will make a fine vampire. I may even call you friend." Batman didn't say a word. He just clenched his fists. Sebastian began to make his way to the caped hero. He leapt above Batman and came down hard with both feet. The Dark Knight swiftly dodged out of the way. Sebastian crashed into the floor, making a small crater were he landed. A loud shot then rang out that struck the vampire in the thigh. Another blast tore through his stomach. Black blood poured out of the wounds as Ash blew the smoke out of the barrel of his gun.

"You hit pretty hard suck face." Ash dropped his gun and started his saw. Sebastian stared at the hero with hate in his red eyes. The vampire stood up as his wounds healed. He took a step toward Ash when a batarang ripped through the right side of his chest. Sebastian turned around to be hit hard in the face by the Dark Knight. The vampire staggered a bit, giving Batman the perfect opportunity to land several more punches and kicks. Sebastian was finally able to leap out of the way. He landed between Ash and Batman. The vampire reached up and pulled the batarang from his chest.

"Dogs huh?" Ash said before he revved up his saw. Sebastian swung a clawed hand at the hero. Ash dodged to the side and grabbed his adversaries arm with his robotic hand. Bones snapped as Ash clenched his metallic fist. The pain caused Sebastian to drop to his knees. Ash then swung around with his rotating chain, lopping off the vampire's head. It rolled along the floor and stopped at the feet of what appeared to be an old man. Ash and Batman stood together as the man began to speak.

"Sebastian." he said. "You have failed me." He gave a swift kick to the decapitated head.

"Alright pop's." Ash said. "What's going on here?"

"My name is Dracula." he replied in a deep voice that carried a heavy accent. "You have invaded my home."

"Some home. You really need a woman's touch in here." Ash turned to Batman hoping to get a laugh out of him, but to no avail.

"Oh, but I do." When Dracula finished speaking, three winged women entered the room. Their appearance was grotesque. With pale skin and clawed hands and feet, they landed next to Dracula. When their feet touched the ground, they transformed into three of the most gorgeous women Ash had ever seen.

"What are three hot girls like you doing with a hunched over, wrinkled up, old man with wig boobs on his head." Ash turned to Batman again, he didn't move.

"Allow me to introduce my brides." He gestured toward the heroes. The three women took flight again, transforming into the beasts they were when they entered. Batman and Ash each dodged an attack from the first two brides, but the third knocked them both to the ground, Batman rolled over and grabbed a batarang from his belt. He threw the spinning weapon, stabbing one of the three in the back as she flew. It pierced her heart and she screamed in agony as her body turned to ashes. The remaining vampire harlots screamed at the lost of their sister and swooped down consecutively at the heroes. When they neared Ash and Batman, a barrage of silver arrows whizzed though the air, killing another one of Dracula's brides. Everyone in the room turned in the direction that the arrows had came.

"Van Helsing!" Dracula yelled at the man in the doorway wearing a long trenchcoat and a wide brimmed hat.

"That's right Drac. You miss me?" Helsing walked up and stood next to Batman and Ash. "Who're you two?" he inquired.

"The name's Ash, and this ball of sunshine here is Batman."

"It's a pleasure." Helsing said. "What do you say we rid ourselves of this vermin." When he finished speaking, a large black figure leapt through one of the few remaining windows. He had a large mouth with rows of sharp teeth and a long slithering tongue that was dripping with a pungent, green drool. He took his place next two Dracula, as did the last of his brides.

"What the Hell is that?" Batman said upon seeing this hulking creature.

"This," Dracula said with a hint of pride in his voice. "Is my son. The book has delivered him to me. He possesses an alien being inside of him that contains the power and strength unimaginable." Dracula produced the Necronomicon from his robes. "This has granted me the opportunity to breath life into my vampiric children, and bring the world to it's knees."

"Hey Grampa," Ash said. "Why don't you make this easy on yourself had over my book. Otherwise the old folks home is gonna have one less crotchety old turd to look after."

"Your insults will only add to your agony."

"I've heard this speech from you more than once, Dracula." Van Helsing said. "I grow more weary of it every time."

"You will learn to hold your blasphemous tongue." Dracula turned to his son. "Venom, destroy these curs." Dracula then disappeared into a slithering shadow and his last bride flew off out of the window. Ash, Batman and Van Helsing were left with Venom, who was drooling profusely onto the floor. Ash took a step toward him.

"Careful Ash, we don't know what he is capable of." Batman said as Venom crouched down.

"Oh don't worry you're pointed little head. I've handled guys a lot bigger than him before." When Ash finished speaking, Venom shot out a rope like strand from the top of his hand that wrapped around Ash's waist, and with a effortless pull, Ash was slammed into the wall. Venom then jumped back and landed on the wall, sticking to it. Ash made his way back to his feet.

"Told you." Batman said. Ash stared at the Dark Night while he cocked his gun.

"Hey, Van." Ash said. "How 'bout we bag us a monster?"

"Works for me." The two of them began to unleash a volley of slugs and silver arrows in Venom's direction. The spider-like villain began to crawl up the wall at an amazing rate. He made his way to the ceiling as Ash was reloading his gun, behind him, his path was full of bullet holes and arrows. He dropped down to the ground, and swung his muscular arm around, catching both Ash and Van Helsing. The two heroes were tossed across the room and their weapons were knocked from their hands. Helsing slammed into a pillar and fell to the ground while Ash crashed right through the wall, dibre covering him. Venom turned around and was face to face with Batman. His long tongue slithered around in the air while it oozed a vile, green saliva that dripped to the ground. Venom reached out with his clawed hand only to have it ducked under by Batman, who thrust his fist up into Venom's gullet. It was like hitting concrete. Venom came down with both fists that forced Batman to roll out of the way. Venom continued his assault and Batman was barely fast enough to dodge the blows but his enemy kept following him. Just then, a whizzing sound was heard, and a silver arrow buried itself into Venom's back.

"That's enough beasty." Van Helsing said as Batman, from on his back, kicked up hard with both feet, nailing Venom in the chin. The monster's head snapped backward as a black tendril slithered out of Venom's back. In a flash it shot over to Helsing and wrapped itself around his face, making it impossible to breathe. As Helsing was struggling for air, another tendril shot out of Venom's chest and grabbed Batman around the neck and lifted him into the air. Venom's long tongue found it's way to the arrow jutting out of his back. It wrapped around it and yanked the silver spear out. The tongue came back around the front and dropped the arrow into his hand. With a quick thrust, Venom pushed the arrow into Batman's left shoulder. Blood rushed to the wound in the Dark Knight's arm as Venom dropped him to the ground. The villainous creature leaned over Batman with a huge grin on his long jaws, drool dripping off of his teeth. Just then, a square stone from the wall struck Venom in the side of the head. The black tendril loosed its grip on Helsing's head. Venom turned to his left to see Ash holding another stone in his hand, tossing it into the air and catching it.

"Hey ugly," he said before he paused to shake dust out of his hair. "Let's rock." He threw the stone and hit Venom in the side of the head again. Venom lumbered toward the hero menacingly. Ash swung forward with his robotic hand and hit the monster in the jaw. Batman pulled his grappling hook from his belt and threw it at his adversaries feet. The hook wrapped around Venom's ankles and Batman pulled hard, toppling him. Across the room, Van Helsing reached into one of the pockets on his trenchcoat. He pulled out a smooth, black object. He brought it to his mouth and whispered into it.

"Ignus Fatuios." He then threw it in Venom's direction. "Don't look!" Batman and Ash covered their eyes and looked away. The object came to a stop and erupted a blinding light that bathed the entire room. The three heroes heard Venom roar in pain for a moment before the light subsided.

"Everyone alright?" Batman asked his comrades.

"Yeah." Van Helsing replied as he put his hat pack on. "I've never seen anything like him before.

"Super, thanks for asking." Ash said sarcastically as he gathered up his belongings. "What was that thing."

"It was an untested light-bomb." Helsing said. "It's supposed to be bright enough to drive darkness from a persons soul, or burn you alive."

"I think that was a successful test." Ash replied. The three of them looked down at Venom just to see his black skin disappear into his body, revealing a man underneath.

"He's coming to." Batman said.

"We've got to ask ourselves something." Ash said as he pointed his gun at the man. "Do we really want a him to?"

"What's the matter?" Helsing asked. "You afraid of another go with the big fella?"

"That doesn't bother me." Ash replied. "I like a good rumble as much as the next guy, I'm talking about the fact that he's naked. What if he want's to grapple some more? I don't think I could handle that." The man looked up right into the barrel of Ash's gun.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

"Well buddy." Ash said. "You were just trying to kill us and now you're naked." The man looked down at himself and quickly the black suit reemerged and produced a swift set of clothes. It didn't make a fashion statement, but he looked respectable.

"How did you do that?" Batman asked. The man stood up.

"The names Eddie Brock by the way. My other did that."

"Other?" Ash and Helsing asked at the same time.

"Yep. That black suit is actually an alien symbiote, and together, we are Venom."

"We figured that part out already." Ash said.

After quick introductions and bringing Eddie up to speed on the situation, the four exited the room and headed down another hall. After a few minutes, Eddie stopped and looked around. The other three turned toward him and watched as the alien symbiote crept over Brock's body. Venom then crouched down low to the floor.

"Something is near. We can smell the blood of the innocent."

"What is it?" Batman inquired. Venom didn't answer, he simply jumped onto the wall and proceeded on all fours along it at a rate that the other three were barely able to keep up with. Venom rounded a corner and dropped to the floor. The other three stopped and surveyed the area. They were in a large, stone room. The buttresses that supported the stones were in a terrible state of decay, sagging under their own weight. As their eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, Ash wished that he could unsee what lay before them. All over the room, decaying copses littered the floor and were even pinned to the wall. The faces of every body seemed to have been peeled off.

"Blood." A low voice growled in the darkness. "It has been so long. The thirst is upon me. It is finally time to feed." Out of the shadows, the source of the voice was revealed. A grotesque being dragged it's long carcass into view. It's skin was covered with the faces of hundreds. Their expressions all had a look of terror upon them. There were no detectable legs, just a large lump of rotting flesh that the beings massive arms forced onward. The overpowering stench of decay burned the nostrils and stung the eyes. Ash looked at the other three.

"Not it."

"Only sustenance is allowed in my chamber."

"You don't entertain much do you?" Helsing said.

"I have little need for guests. All I require is the sweet nectar that is now rushing through your veins in fear."

"What manner of creature are you?" Venom asked the hulking mass.

"Me name is Melchia. I have spent countless centuries in this chamber feasting on beings far more powerful than you."

"Well Lumpy." Ash said. "I think it's time to dance." He turned his head and looked at Batman.

"I don't do one liners."

"None shall survive." Melchia swung his huge rotting arm around that the four were barely able to dodge. A chainsaw slash caught him in the forearm, putrid, black blood poured from the wound. Melchia pulled his arm back toward his body and let out a slow laugh. Venom shot out a webline that struck their adversary in the side of the head. With a swift tug, the rotting vampire's head slammed into the wall causing several stones to crash onto the beast, knocking him to the ground. A volley of silver arrows came next. Piercing the chest of the revolting creature. Melchia reached out with a massive hand and grabbed Venom before tossing him into Van Helsing. Melchia lumbered back upright and with his hand, pushed down on the arrows protruding from his chest. The metal arrows tore out of his skin and fell to the ground. Batman jumped into the air and landed on the vampire's shoulder. He quickly pulled out a Batarang and stabbed Melchia in the left eye. Batman was quickly grabbed and flung to the ground. The Dark Night was then pinned by a massive hand.

"How dare you?" Melchia brought his face to Batman's. The smell of his breath was far worse than that of his decaying skin.

"Van," Ash yelled. "Distract him. Venom, get me to that beam." Helsing pulled out two round blades that began to spin. He charged at the beast and began to hack into any part of his body the was in reach. Venom grabbed Ash and swung up to the buttress. Ash began to cut away. Batman had managed to escape the crushing weight of Melchia's arm as he attempted to block Helsing's slashing. The Dark Knight shot out a grappling hook that buried itself into Melchia's neck. Up above, the beam Ash had been cutting on began to break.

"This is taking to long." Venom said. He secured a webline to Ash's back and stuck the other end to the ceiling. Venom them tore the rotting beam from the wall and began to fall. Leaving Ash hanging, Venom guided the jagged end on the beam downward as he fell. Batman and Van Helsing leapt out of the way just as the beam forced itself through Melchia's heart. The beast fell to the ground, a final, foul breath left his body as black blood trickled out of his mouth. Up above, Ash loudly cleared his throat.

"I don't mean to be a nuisance, but can I come down now?"

After Ash had been cut down, the last few minutes had been filled with poor jokes at his expense. Apparently Venom and Van Helsing had found Ash hanging from the ceiling quit humorous. As usual, Batman never cracked a smile. Venom then said something useful.

"We can smell him, him and his brood. He thought he could control us, but we will teach him." Ash leaned over to Van Helsing.

"I don't think he's playing with a full deck." he whispered.

"You can find him?" Batman asked.

"Yessss. We can sense him, we will eat his face."

"What's this brood you spoke of?" Helsing asked.

"They are his children. Thousands of them, enough to topple the worlds population in a matter of days. Millions of innocent lives taken, we cannot allow that."

"Well," Helsing said. "I happen to have another light-bomb. That should be enough to burn the little bastards to soot." The four then jumped at the sound of a high pitched scream coming from above. They all looked up to see the last of Dracula's brides swooping down at them. Caught of guard, none of them were able to draw a weapon in time. Her massive wing span knocked all of them to the ground. Ash was hit the hardest, tossed away from the group. The winged beast landed on top of him and sank her fangs into his neck. Ash tried to struggle but was unable to move, his body locked up as she drained his blood. The bite was broken when a black tendril wrapped around her throat and pulled her back at Venom. She screamed and clawed but was quickly silenced when a sickening snap echoed off of the stone walls. She lay limp on the floor, her neck broken. Batman then stabbed her in the heart with a batarang.

"You've been bitten." Helsing said. "You will become a vampire within the hour. Once that happens, we will have to kill you."

"Is there any way to cure him?" Batman asked.

"We have to kill Dracula, the father of all vampires."

"That shouldn't be to hard." Ash said as he rose to his feet.

"Noone knows how to do it."

"We can do it." Venom said. "Rip out his eyes and eat his brain."

"I bet you're great at kids parties." Ash said as he walked on. "Well, lets hurry up. I would like to stay human."

For most of the last hour, Venom had been leading the way while Van Helsing and Batman were keeping a close eye on Ash.

"We are nearly there." Venom said with glee in his voice. As they walked, Ash could feel his fangs gradually becoming elongated and sharper. The four came up to a huge oak door that Venom easily kicked in. "Knock, knock." The symbiote slithered off of Eddies face and the two began a conversation with each other.

"Who's there?" When Eddie finished, the symbiote covered his face again.

"Wewanna."

"Wewanna who?"

"Wewanna eat your heart."

"That's charming." Ash said. The four of them looked around. They were in a huge room that was covered with green, pulsating sacks.

"Those are the eggs." Venom said. "Quickly destroy them." Van Helsing reached into his trenchcoat for the other light-bomb. When he pulled it out, a blur whizzed in front of him, pulling the weapon from his hand.

"I am not so easily defeated." Dracula said from across the room. In the blink of an eye he had moved an amazing distance. He dropped the light bomb to the floor and began to approach the heroes. Venom tried to engage him.

"You killed my brides." he effortlessly slapped Venom to the side. "You killed Sebastian, my servant of over four hundred years." He grabbed Batman around the throat and threw him aside. "And you stole my son." Van Helsing was knocked to the ground. "You will not deny me my children." He was face to face with Ash. He sniffed the air. "But it seems that a new servant is near."

"Oh, you'll get served alright." Ash swung him metallic fist at the vampire. Dracula swiftly dodged to the side.

"It is only a matter of time." When Dracula finished speaking, Ash fell to the ground in pain. He looked at the other three heroes and they watched as his fangs grew and his eyes turned yellow.

"We don't have much time." Helsing said. The three leapt at Dracula. Venom was able to web his feet to the ground and grab him around the throat. Dracula hit him in the stomach and slammed him into the floor. Batman was able to sneak up behind him and stab him in the side with a batarang while Helsing scrambled for the light-bomb. Batman was sent flying with a kick to the face. Dracula pulled his feet free and jumped onto Helsing. After grabbing his trenchcoat, Helsing was tossed across the room like nothing. Dracula then made his way over to Ash. He knelt down and spoke to him.

"Do you feel it? The power coursing through you're veins. In only a few moments, the transformation will be complete. You will make a fine son."

"Don't count on it, Dad." with speed that amazed even himself, Ash struck the vampire in the face, sending him crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.

"How is this possible?" Dracula asked in shock.

"I guess I'm not so easy to sway asshole." With eyes glowing red with anger, Ash leapt at his would-be father, pinning him against the wall. He drew his Deadly Knightblade and stabbed Dracula through the stomach, tacking him to the wall.

"You cannot kill me." Dracula said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ash reached into his shadow pocket and pulled out the twisted bottle. He then pulled the batarang from the vampire's side and dunked it into the green liquid. "The quickest way to a vampire's heart." He plunged the weapon into the dark being's heart. Ash then reared his head back and opened his mouth before plunging his fangs into the ancient vampire, drinking his blood.

"He's letting the evil corrupt him." Helsing yelled.

"I thought killing Dracula would stop that." Batman yelled back.

"He's not dead yet, Ash is stealing his power. If he does that, he will become just as evil."

"Allow us." Venom grabbed Ash by the back of the shirt and tore him away. Ash thrashed madly with blood on his mouth and chin as Venom tried to hold him down. Across the room Dracula touched the wall with his hand. A lightning like energy crept out of his hand and spread around the room to all the eggs.

"You may have killed me, but me children will live." The eggs started to pulsate and shake. In seconds, small creatures emerged from the deflating green sacks. These vampires shared very little human characteristics and scrambled along the floor like rats. Ash threw Venom off of him and stood up. The tiny vampires looked at Ash inquisitively.

"Now," Ash said to the little creatures. "That Grampa's gone, looks like you answer to me. I think I'm gonna like being a dad."

"Helsing," Batman yelled. "Were is your bomb."

"I don't know. I can't see it."

"Make way." Venom charged through Batman and Van Helsing before tearing into the small blood suckers. "We may not get to have Dracula for dinner, but we will just fill up on appetizers." Venom savagely ripped apart the little vermin with his hands while at the same time biting off heads and chewing others in half with his sharp teeth. Venom made his way to Ash and he two began to exchange blows. Behind them, Batman and Helsing were holding off more of the creatures. Venom knocked Ash to the ground and jumped on top of him. Not to far away, he spotted the light-bomb. Venom shot out a web-line that stuck to the little black ball and swung it around.

"Helsing, catch." The bomb landed right in the vampire hunters hand. He whispered the magic words into it and tossed it into the fray. Light began to emerge from the ball as Venom jumped off of Ash and joined the other two around a corner. The light exploded and the little vampires screamed in agony. When the light faded, Ash was lying on the floor, covered in what looked like green jell-O.

"So, they exploded, huh?" Venom said.

"Was I just neckin' with Dracula?" Ash asked while he slowly stood up.

"The darkness almost took you." Helsing said.

"So I was almost turned gay?"

"Yep." Batman said. "It looked like it came pretty natural."

"Was that a joke?" Ash replied as he walked over to the pile of robes were Dracula once stood. "You're outdoing yourself." Ash pulled his sword from the wall and gathered up his other belongings. "As much as I enjoy comedy hour, I got other worlds to save." Ash bent over and pulled the Necronomicon from the clothes. "See ya round gents." When Ash disappeared, the other three turned and left the room.

"There's a town about three miles north of here." Helsing said. "Who wants a drink." Venom gleefully jumped up and down and raised his hand.

"We do! We do!" The three exited the castle and headed toward town as the sun was just beginning to rise.

Ash surveyed his surroundings. He was in a desert with nothing to behold except sand.

"This is just swell." He said as he began to walk in no particular direction. "Halloween Town at least had some scenery, but, on the other hand, too much singing." Ash wandered around the desert for some time before he came to the top of a huge dune and saw what was on the other side. He stopped to gaze at a huge pyramid. "And me without a camera." He approached the weathered stone structure. As he neared, he once again saw Doom and Maleficent. Figuring the same thing would happen as last time, he began to follow. He was correct, they could not hear or see him. They made their way into the pyramid until they emerged in a large room in the center. In the middle of the room, a huge coffin sat upright. Maleficent pointed her staff in it's direction. The stone cover on the front opened slowly to reveal a very large figure inside.

"Who dares awaken the mighty Apocalypse?"

"It is I, Maleficent."

"Your recent actions have garnered my attention, witch. But that will do little to impede your destruction."

"I come bearing news of an artifact that can make you even more powerful."

"Impossible. I am the most powerful being in the universe."

"I speak of Pandora's Box." Apocalypse's brow turned down in interest. He thought for a moment before speaking.

"That object is no more than a myth." Doom stepped forward, carrying what appeared to be a horn.

"This gives you the ability to summon Kronos, upon which the Temple of Pandora is latched." Apocalypse grabbed the horn.

"If this does not work, I will see to your demise."

"I assure you." Maleficent said. "The power of a God will be yours." Apocalypse pushed in a stone on the side of his coffin, causing the floor to raise toward the ceiling. The top of the pyramid opened and the floor came to a stop. Touching the horn to his mouth, a loud roar erupted from the horn. Apocalypse, Maleficent, Doom and Ash peered out into the desert. After a moment, a hulking being came in to view. The titan Kronos slowly crawled his way toward Apocalypse's pyramid.

"Pandora's Box," Maleficent said. "Is hidden within. Find it, and you will be granted the power of a God."

Ash looked around his general area. Everything, from the buildings to the ground, was metallic.

"This certainly is a shiny place. Hey cool car." Ash approached a vehicle parked near to him. "At least I can find the book in style this time." He climbed in. The door shut all by itself and the engine fired up without aid.

"Welcome to Cybertron Ash, we've been expecting you." the car said as it sped off with Ash inside of it.


	10. Ashimus Prime

Chapter 10. Ashimus Prime

"Did the car just talk to me?" Ash asked himself as he was sped along the metallic surface of this new world.

"Does that surprise you?" the car responded.

"In retrospect, not really. I've seen some pretty strange things recently."

"Good. It's lucky that I was able to find you so fast. Optimus said you were coming, but he did not no where."

"Optimus?"

"You'll meet him soon enough. Others have already made it here."

"Others?"

After a trip that took nearly an hour, the car screeched to a halt in front of a large, metal tower. Ash exited the vehicle and watched in amazement as it transformed into a fifteen foot tall, humanoid robot.

"Hey, Hot Rod. How do we get in." The robot pushed a button on his chest and a large panel began to open on the structure.

"This way Ash."

"A built in garage door opener. Does that come standard.?" The two entered the building and began down a long hallway. The sound of Hot Rod's footsteps echoed off the metal walls that surrounded them. Eventually they made it to another door that slid open. When they entered, five figures inside looked their direction. Ash studied all of them. There was another robot taller than Hot Rod, an extremely hot woman wearing a full, black, revealing leather outfit, a man, also in black attire that resembled a speed skater's suit. Next to him on a table, was a cone shaped metallic object. On the other side of the room, the final two beings stood next to each other. The one on the left was an imposing figure who wore a brown armor and held under his arm what appeared to be a helmet, while the other, was of shorter stature that had a worm for a head. The robot approached Ash.

"I am Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots. Welcome to Cybertron, Ash."

"How do you know who I am?"

"There are a select few beings in the universe that are able to communicate with one another. Each representing their sections of the vastness of space. King Mickey recently contacted me."

"Well that explains that. But, how did you now I was coming here? I mean, my destinations have been awfully random." Ash was trying to pay attention, but the blue eyes of the lady leaning against the wall were gaining most of his attention.

"We were able to gather enough Energon cubes to attract both you and the book. Fortunately, it was a success." When Prime finished speaking, the hulking mass of humanity approached Ash. He bent over and stared him in the face.

"Don't look like much of a savior to me."

"My, aren't you a big fella."

"The name's Juggernaut small fry. Don't forget it."

"I have a feeling that'll be hard to do." Juggernaut stood back upright and put on his helmet.

"When do we get to the smashing? This little vacation is boring me to death."

"Soon enough, Juggernaut." Prime replied.

"Kurt Hectic." the man said as he reached out his hand. Ash shook it with his robotic appendage.

"What's the deal with your snow-cone maker over their?" Ash gestured to the black, cone sitting on the table.

"That's my Chain Gun." Kurt replied. "I'm sure you'll be impressed."

"We'll see." Ash turned to the worm headed figure. "I hope we're not battling mutant crows."

"Jim. Earthworm Jim." he said crossing his arms. Ash had little time to pay attention as the woman approached him.

"My name is Selene." Ash began to turn on the charm.

"And, what can you do?" She reached up and grabbed him by the shirt. Ash was lifted off of the ground effortlessly. He looked down at her and she smiled.

"Impressed?"

"Very." Ash pulled his eyes away from her cleavage to see fangs in her mouth. "You're not a vampire are you?"

"Of course."

"I bet that's not all you can do with your mouth." She released her grip and Ash fell to the ground. Juggernaut erupted with laughter.

"That's enough everyone." Prime said.

"I don't have to take orders from a tin can." Juggernaut replied.

"Need I remind you." Prime pointed to a large dent in the metal wall in the rough outline of Juggy. "Now that we are all here," Prime continued. "We can begin the briefing."

"I'd prefer de-briefing." Ash said as he looked at Selene as several holographic images flickered into view in the center of the table.

"This," Prime said as he gestured toward the image. "Is Megatron. Leader of the Decepticons. The book has transported him elsewhere. His location has not been discovered. In his stead, a being known as Starscream is ruling in his place."

"Why don't we just take him down?" Ash asked.

"It's not that simple. Starscream is a formidable warrior and his shady tactics have been a thorn in my side for longer than you could know."

"What about the rest of the Autobots?"

"Hotrod and I are all that remains. The book has scattered us, as well as most of the Decepticons, across the universe. Who knows what kind of peril they could be in."

"Sounds like a bunch of science fiction crap." Juggernaut added.

"Optimus.?" Everyone in the room turned to look at Hotrod, who was bathed in a bright blue light before vanishing. The room was silent for a moment before Selene spoke.

"We don't have time for this, Ash has to find the book so the balance of the universe can be restored."

"She's right." Prime said. "Hotrod can take care of himself. We need to stop Starscream before he destroys Cybertron."

"Finally," Juggy said in excitement. "It's time to do some smashing."

"Let's roll out."

Moments later, Prime carried Juggernaut on the top of his trailer and Hectic on the hood with that black snow-cone maker on his right hand, while the other three sat in the cab. Ash used this time to "get to know" Selene.

"I see you have a thing for guns."

"I haven't met anyone who could out shoot me yet."

"I've never met a girl that didn't eventually succumb to my charm and charismatic wit." Earthworm Jim raised an eyebrow and looked up at the chainsaw toting hero.

"There's a fist time for everything." was all that Selene said in return. Ash took a breath to release yet another line but was cut short by Jim.

"What is this place?" Ash had been to busy trying to impress the vampiress to notice that the once shiny, metallic surroundings had been replaced by an rough, black, leathery looking surface with a bumpy texture and dripping with what looked like drool.

"Everyone keep a sharp lookout." Prime said as he continued to speed along the terrain. A few moments passed before Jim reached out and pointed swiftly toward the driver side window. Striking Ash in the jaw in the process.

"Something's moving out there."

"We may have to see if worms really do grow back after cut in half." Ash said as he cocked his gun.

"Are you two gonna talk the whole time?" Juggy asked. "I want to be able to hear the bones break when we find whatever we're looking for. Besides, I don't see anything."

"He's right," Prime said. "My sensors are picking up minute changes in air density."

"Which means?" Ash asked.

"Something is moving."

"Prime," Hectic said. "Slow down a bit." Prime obliged and let off the throttle.

"Hey, come on." Juggernaut said. "I was startin' to like the breeze through my hair." When he finished speaking, a small, pink, spider-like animal leapt onto the side of Kurt's face. Prime screeched to a halt as Hectic fell off the hood. Juggernaut jumped to the ground and grabbed a hold of the small creature. Kurt thought his neck was going to break as Juggy pulled the small creature off. The grip of it's tail around his throat was unbelievable.

"This is what we're up against." Juggernaut said as he held it between his thumb and fore finger. "I could be taking a nap right now." The tiny menace let out a loud scream as everyone else gathered around.

"We should take it back to the lab." Prime said after he finished transforming.

"I gotta better idea." Juggy squeezed, crushing the creature, a bright, neon green liquid squirted everywhere. "That tingles a little."

"It's acid." Selene said. Everyone looked at the ground where the acid had fallen on some steel. Within seconds, a hole had been burned through the floor.

"Acid for blood." Ash said. "That's a new trick."

"Heads up everyone." Prime said. "I'm picking up more movement."

"So what." Juggy replied. "These things are no big deal. I bet I can smash more than the rest of you put together."

"No, this is bigger, and there are a lot more." When Prime finished speaking, the walls around them literally came to life. A horde of black creatures with long heads, spined tails and mouths running with drool began to emerge all around them.

"Their coming out of the Goddamn walls." Hectic said as he readied his chain gun. At least a hundred of the beasts were closing in around them.

"Come get some." Ash rang out a shot into the group, dropping the first one. The others followed suit. Ash looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that the others were making him look like an amateur. Primes robotic aiming system was allowing him to fire with pinpoint accuracy. Aliens were falling by the score from the laser blast of his rifle. Jim was cutting through the attack as well before he reached up and grabbed his own head. Jim then ran at an approaching alien and used it's head for leverage, leaping into the air and wrapping his worm head around an exposed pipe. From above he was able to continue his assault. Hectic's chain gun was being swept back and forth, decimating everything in it's path. Juggernaut's tactic differed but was just as effective. He brought down both fists at a time, smashing everything in front of him. Selene's dual pistols were doing massive damage. Ash kept looking over until both of her gun's were out of ammo.

"Time to rescue the damsel." He thought to himself. "My favorite part of the game." He began to make his way over to the surrounded Selene, blasting himself a path. He was nearly there when the first alien leapt at her. She effortlessly swung her foot around and kicked it hard in the side of the face. She then pulled out two metal discs and flung them into the fray. The objects sprouted razor sharp blades as they whirled through everything in their path.

"Looks like she can handle herself." Ash thought, a bit disappointed. Ash turned and was knocked to the ground with an alien on top of him. He couldn't fire his gun for fear of the acid running through the beast's veins. It slowly opened it's mouth before a second, snake-like tube thrust out. Ash was barely quick enough to grab it with his robotic hand.

"Second date rule home slice." Ash was able to wrestle the alien onto it's back and rolled on top of it. He pulled out his sword and stabbed it through the head. The beast was rendered motionless.

"Good ol' indestructible Nightblade." He said. If you weren't covered in freakin' acid I could kiss you." The green liquid lightly sizzled and popped as it tried in vain the consume the blade. Ash stood up and met eyes with Selene, who was pointing her freshly reloaded pistol directly at his face.

"Move." Ash ducked and she fired a shot that killed off the last remaining alien. The area smelled of gunpowder and the burning of all the acid as everyone regrouped.

"Anyone get burned?" Prime asked.

"Only them." Ash replied as Jim dropped back down from the ceiling.

"Speak for yourself." Everyone turned to look at Juggernaut, who was covered in green acid. "I hate lime Jell-O."

"Told you you'd be impressed." Kurt said to Ash.

"I was more impressed when you where kneckin' with that little one." Ash turned to Selene as she sauntered by him.

"Like I said, I've never met anyone that could out shoot me."

"Ouch, babe." Ash said. "Next time why don't you just kick me in the pills."

"We had better get moving." Prime said. "All of this acid has weakened the floor." Prime leapt over the still smoking floor and transformed. He was followed by Selene, who was also able to leapt the substantial distance. Hectic caught a ride on Juggernaut's shoulder as he trudged through the smoke.

"Need a lift?" Jim asked.

"If you tell anyone, I'm going fishing with your head." Ash grabbed onto Jim and the two swung across the precarious path via Jim's slimy head.

They all continued on their way, cautiously, with weapons drawn, searching their surroundings for anymore signs of the aliens that had attacked them earlier. For the past hour or so, Prime's sensors have been unable to detect any motion around them. Ash couldn't take to silence any longer.

"Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous? Instead of lurking in the shadows, shouldn't we be going after this Starscream?"

"Can't you think of anything more helpful to do than complain?" Selene said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well I guess I could just walk behind you and check out the scenery." Selene turned around and looked at Ash. "I know that look. You're falling for me, aren't you. Eventually they all bend to my will." She ignored that last statement and the group continued on their way. The leathery material that the aliens had sprung forth from had completely engulfed the corridor. No metallic surface could be seen in any direction.

"Maybe they realized that we're too much to handle." Kurt said.

"I doubt we'd be that lucky." Prime replied.

"Hey guys." Everyone heard Jim yell. "Looks like we reached a dead end." Jim had ventured further ahead of the others along with Juggernaut and the two had found the end of the trail.

"It's pretty thick." Juggy said. "But it ain't nuthin' I can't handle." He started to pound away at the black surface but to no avail. The tissue just absorbed his blows like a sponge.

"I bet that's embarrassing." Ash said with a smirk to the hulking Juggernaut.

"Maybe I just need a battering ram." He replied bringing his huge mug down to Ash's level. "How hard's your head?" Ash considered making a lewd comment, but decided to keep it to himself.

"Well," Selene inquired. "What do we do now."

"I'm going to try something." Prime's chest began to open up. A blinding blue light emanated from within that caused everyone to shield their eyes.

"The Matrix." The memory of Maleficent and Doom's meeting with that scary looking Thanos guy crept into Ash's head. Prime held the glowing metallic object in his hands and pointed it at the wall. The black substance seemed to writhe in agony as the brilliant light shone upon it. It the slowly began to slink away in an effort to save it's own existence. When that metal surface was once again exposed, Prime once more concealed the Matrix beneath his chest plate.

"Care to try again?" Prime said.

"With pleasure." Juggernaut charged at the wall and burst through it like it was tissue paper. The rest followed suit. Ash turned to see their exit close up once again with the alien organism.

"Well, that cuts our options short." When Ash finished speaking, a large wall of fire leapt up in front of them. Everyone made a quick step backwards and tried to see past the blaze. Jim was jumping up and down in an effort to see until he pulled out his head and held it high up in his left hand. The worm stood up erect and peered over the flames.

"That's gross." Kurt said. The flames began to die down and three figures came into view. The one on the left was obviously the culprit behind the flames as his hands were burning with fire. His skin was green and he had long pointy ears. The one in the middle also had pointed ears but his face was adorned with a huge grin the displayed an array of sharp metal teeth. The final figure was bigger than the other two, with metallic colored skin clad in a red suit, long, blonde hair and out of the palms of his hands, shiny metal tendrils hung from them, slightly moving at his side.

"Starscream said you would be coming this way." The one with flaming hands said.

"So the coward sends his lackeys to do his dirty work." Prime said in defiance.

"He has promised us immortality in exchange for our services." The center one said in a serpentine voice.

"Services, huh?" Ash said. "So does that mean you change his oil and buff his poop deck." Nobody laughed, except Juggernaut.

"Joke all you wish." the final figure said in a heavy Russian accent. "You may laugh all the way to the grave." Ash and the others readied for battle.

"In due time Omega Red." A voice erupted from the sky. Everyone looked up to see a fighter jet soar into view.

"Starscream." Prime said. His voice riddled with disgust. "It is very appropriate that you would surround yourself with such filth."

"I would watch my speech generator if I were you." The plane said as it transformed into a robot the same size as Prime. "You will be given even less mercy."

"Were's my book?" Ash demanded.

"It belongs to me now. I control it. I was able to transport my army here with but a thought."

"You mean those alien things?" Juggy said. "We've already pounded them to mush."

"Do you think so?" Starscream produced the book from his chest cavity. A brief flash of light shone and he looked behind him. Out of every shadow and every crack in the area, aliens began to pour out. Hundreds upon hundreds slunk into view behind Starscream and his other three servants.

"I will enjoy finally watching you die, Prime. Something Megatron was never able to do." Starscream transformed again and took to the sky. "Super Skrull, Baraka, Omega Red. Destroy them." The three combatants charged at the heroes, followed by the alien horde.

"This is gonna be fun." Juggernaut charged at the three while everyone else began to fire their weapons into the aliens. Green blood spraying in all directions. Juggernaut first met Super Skrull and swung his mighty fist. Skrull's body twisted and stretched out of shape and wrapped around his arm.

"Surprise." His right hand turned into an orange colored stone and he pummeled Juggy on the face. That was hardly enough to stop the unstoppable Juggernaut, but he was unable to land a punch as his opponents body continued to elude his blows. Omega Red reached out with his tendrils and grabbed two aliens in each one, throwing them at Hectic and Jim. The two easily blasted the projectiles apart and rolled out of the way of the acid. It landed on the ground, spitting as it ate away the surface. Red then grabbed the two around the neck and began to squeeze. Hectic was blasting away with his chain gun, but to no avail. The bullets simply ricochet off of his body doing no damage. Jim's skin was slimy enough to escape the bone-crushing grip of the tendrils and he landed on the ground reaching for his belt. He produced a clip that he but in his plasma blaster. The tip of his gun began to radiate with a bright yellow light and he took aim. Omega was hit in the chest with a massive dose of energy, that caused him to drop Hectic and sail backwards.

"Thanks." Hectic said to the worm as he continued blasting.

"I'll gut you." Baraka said as he approached Ash and Selene. He raised his right arm in the air. Ash watched as a three foot blade protruded from his flesh and swung down at him. Ash was barely able to catch it in his metal hand. With his other arm, Baraka produced a second blade and slashed Selene across the cheek, forcing her to a knee.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?" Ash said as he drew his sword. He swung it around, only to have it blocked by another blade. Baraka brought his face right into his adversaries.

"It will be difficult to lecture without a tongue."

"It'll take a lot more that metal teeth and a poor complection to stop me baby." Selene made it back to her feet, her wound completely healed and she took a shot at Baraka. He was able to block it with one of his blade's, but it left him open for a blow to the jaw by Ash's metal hand.

"Thanks babe." Ash said.

"My pleasure." Selene replied with a flirtatious smile before he went back to blasting aliens.

"I knew it." Ash and Baraka continued their battle of the blades as Red forced his tendrils into the ground. They reached up and grabbed Prime by the legs. Prime was momentarily knock off balance, allowing several aliens to jump onto him causing him to drop his weapon. They slashed at him with their claws but were unable to penetrate his metal skin. Prime struggled to remove them while Juggernaut finally got a hold of Skrull. He had wrapped his body all over Juggy, who was now trying to untangle them. He managed to do so and threw his at Prime, knocking all of the attacking aliens to the surrounding metal. Prime then grabbed the tendrils and pulled. Omega Red's tendrils were ripped out of the ground. The two then began to pull as hard as they could, but Red could not compete with Prime's strength. Omega was pulled hard into to Prime who then smashed him into the ground with his robotic fist. He then picked him up and sent him sailing into the air with another huge blow. Red was hit so hard, he sailed into the aliens and they splattered on impact like bugs on a windshield. Prime reached for his gun but was entangled by Skrull who then, with one hand tried to melt him with fire with the other, rock hard fist pounded away. Juggernaut was unable to help, fore he was covered by aliens. He was smashing for all he was worth but was unable to break free. Kurt, Selene and Jim had been backed into a corner by the horde.

"I suppose this is as good a time as any to try this out." Kurt said as he reached into his belt. He produced a small object that had a bio-hazard sign on it.

"What is that?" Jim asked as he blasted another alien.

"It's the world's smallest nuclear bomb. Buy me some time."

"We'll try." Selene said. Hectic bent down and went to work. Not far away Ash had been knocked down by Baraka.

"Now," he said. "You die."

"You don't know you I am, do you?" Ash punched Baraka in the knee with his robotic fist, causing it to buckle under his weight. Ash rolled out of the way, grabbed his chainsaw and revved it up.

"The name's Ash. Housewares, bitch." He swung it around mightily. Baraka was barely able to block the blow and he got back up to his feet. Ash was on the offensive, striking with both his sword and saw, stopping only to chop a couple of aliens in half as he pursued Baraka. Sparks rained when the spinning chain came into contact with Baraka's blades. Ash put all he could muster into a death blow with his saw. Baraka blocked with his left blade, only to have it snap and the chain cut a gouge over his left eye. Blood ran from the wound as he covered his damaged eye with his left hand. Ash was poised to finish the battle when Red's metal tendrils bound his arms to his sides.

"Now," Omega said. "You die." He began to squeeze, choking the breathe from him.

"Ash!" Selene yelled as she tried to get to him. Ash looked in her direction, the color leaving his face. He could feel his life drifting away and all he did was wink.

"No." Baraka yelled. "He's mine." He slashed at Red's tendrils causing him to loose his grip. Ash fell to the ground and watched as Baraka thrust his remaining blade into Omega's stomach. Red fell to the ground, perplexed.

"Nothing has ever been able to pierce my skin." Blood ran all around him as he lay on his front, looking up at the only being ever to truly hurt him. Baraka then turned to Ash and raised a blade in the air.

"When you are dead, I will eat your heart."

"I've heard that before." When Ash finished speaking. A metal disk with blades on it struck Baraka in the other eye, completely blinding him. Selene had saved his life. Ash rolled to the side and grabbed his shotgun as Baraka swung wildly and screamed in pain. A loud boom sounded and Baraka's abdomen erupted in blood. He dropped to his knees. The last thing Baraka heard was the rattling of the chainsaw.

"You will die. Starscream will see to my vengeance."

"Not very level headed, are you?" Ash buzzed his saw around, lopping off Baraka's head. "Well, at least, not any more."

"It's ready." Kurt said. "Juggernaut. Prime. We need some cover." Juggy leapt into the air and came down with an elbow drop, smashing several aliens, before he got up and charged to the others. Ash then shot Super Skrull in the back, causing him to let loose of Prime. Ash and Prime then made their way to the others as well.

"Juggernaut." Hectic said as he handed the world's smallest nuclear bomb to him. "Get this as far away from us as possible." Juggy threw it far into the distance. He and prime then tore up a large chunk of steel from the ground and placed it in front of them all. The bomb exploded and incinerated all of the remaining aliens in an instant. Ash watched as Baraka's body burned out of sight while Skrull was staining to keep up the invisible force field that he had conjured. The blast ended and they left the safety of their metal shield.

"Groovy." Ash and Jim said at the same time. Ash looked down at the worm with an inquisitive look.

"That's my word."

"This barely held." Prime said.

"It worked didn't it?" Juggy replied.

"They're all gone." Selene said as they all surveyed the damaged that the Coke can sized bomb had done.

"I'll destroy you myself." Everyone watched as Starscream came soaring into view. He swooped down and dropped several missiles from his wings that sent everyone flying.

"Welcome back." Skrull said as he grabbed hold of Ash's shirt and lifted him into the air.

"Hey pal," Ash said. "Ever had your ass kicked by a girl?" Skrull looked to see Selene slide on her back beneath Ash. She then kicked upward, landing a sharp heel into Skrull's testicles. Ash was dropped to the ground and he helped up Selene. She started to speak but Ash cut that short and thrust his mouth upon her's. After a second or two he broke away.

"Time to get back to work." He punched Skrull with his robotic hand and turned his attention back to Starscream. "How are we supposed to take him down? Last time I checked, worms can't fly."

"We don't need to." Kurt said as he attached his chain gun to his face.

"What are you gonna do?" Juggy said. "Peck his eyes out." Kurt took a knee and focused in on one of Starscream's engines. He fired. They all watch as the engine exploded and the Decepticon started to loose altitude.

"What?" He yelled in surprise before he crashed. He transformed and stood up.

"Looks like the game's over." Prime said. Juggernaut was then struck by something and sent sailing backwards. Starscream shot Prime in the right shoulder, knocking him to the ground as Hectic and Jim were also sent flying by an unseen force. Metal tendrils then wrapped around Ash and Selene, binding their arms and legs and holding them aloft.

"I still have a trick or two up my sleeves." Skrull came into view. He had made himself invisible.

"Now," Starscream continued. "You will all watch as Prime is destroyed." He pointed his weapon at the wounded Optimus. "After all these years, it will not be Megatron that destroys the almighty Optimus Prime. It will be the invincible Starscream." A blinding light then came into view. Obstructing Starscream's vision. A look of shock appeared on Ash's face when the light faded and he identified the being responsible.

"Thanos?" The mad Titan leapt at Prime and savagely pried open his chest cavity. He then reached inside and pulled out the Matrix.

"With this, the power of an entire planet is mine to command." Thanos turned and was shot in the face by Starscream. He didn't budge. The same blast the was able to topple Prime, didn't even faze him. A look of anger appeared on his face.

"Skrull. Omega Red. Stop him. The Matrix belongs to me!" Starscream unleashed a barrage of energy onto Thanos while the other two attacked. As he was being shot, Thanos turned and faced his open palm to Skrull and Omega. A huge yellow blast erupted. When it faded, there was no sign of either Skrull or Red. He had effortlessly destroyed them both. He then turned to Starscream.

"No! No! The Matrix is mine!" He used up the rest of his energy for one final blast. Ash's hair was blown back with the explosion. When the smoke cleared, Thanos still stood. Laughing softly.

"I don't believe it." With his engine damaged, Starscream was unable to flee. Thanos let loose another blast that eradicated his enemy. Only a few scraps of smoking metal and the Necronomicon remained. Thanos then turned to Ash.

"Now is not the time, Ash of the cosmos. But soon, I will destroy you as well." He then disappeared the same he had come.

"You okay Prime?" Jim said.

"Yes, but the Matrix is gone. Ash, the task of retrieving it falls to you."

"Figures."

After a few quick goodbyes, Ash made his way to the book.

"Ash." Selene said.

"Don't worry 'bout me babe. It'll take a lot more than that Thanos fella or any planet he may or may not control to take me down." He bent over to grab the book and was whisked away yet again. After a few moments of silence, Juggernaut broke it.

"You robots don't have anything to eat do you?"

Ash stood up and looked around. He was in a room that was made of ancient looking brown stone. In the center was a brightly colored chest that was covered with eons of dust.

"I hope that's not what I think it is." He heard a loud rumbling sound seconds before the huge oak doors to the room were knock to the ground. When the dust settled, Apocalypse came into view. Once again Ash was unseen, but he was aware that this was not the best place in the world to be. Apocalypse approached the chest.

"The power of a God is mine." He opened the chest and their surroundings spun. When they finally stopped, Ash looked around. They were both in front of a large white marble building that had the distinct features of Roman architecture.

"Olympus." Apocalypse said. "The witch did not lie. Zeus. Hear me ruler of Olympus. I, the almighty Apocalypse challenge you to your throne."

"How dare you enter my home." A very tall, white bearded man manifested into view. "You have sealed your fate." He lashed out at the intruder with a lightning bolt. It simply was absorbed into Apocalypse's body. "What trickery is this?"

"No trickery I assure you. I hold the power of Pandora's Box. Who are helpless as long as I possess it." Apocalypse let loose from the palms of his hands two blasts of energy that brought the God of God's to his knees. He then approached him and grabbed Zeus around the throat.

"Hear me denizens of Olympus. Bow to your new God." Zeus faded away as Apocalypse absorbed his energy. With Zeus completely assimilated, Apocalypse began to destroy Olympus.

Ash was once again transported. This time he was in a place that was similar to Cybertron, but was darker and more menacing. He was up high on a ledge and when he looked down, he once again saw Doom and Maleficent. They were approaching a huge purple skinned being with a tail and metallic spines on his head and elbows.

"Cooler." Maleficent said. "I come baring a great opportunity for a mighty warrior such as yourself."

"What could you possibly offer me?" Doom stepped forward and produced an image of a large sword with a serpentine blade and what appeared to be a vampire skull fastened at the hilt.

"This," Maleficent continued. "Is known as the Soul Reaver. It is the single most powerful weapon in the world."

"How so?" Cooler asked his interest peaked.

"This blade is capable of consuming the soul of any being it vanquishes." Doom said. "The power that each soul possesses will in turn make it's wielder nearly invincible."

"Were can I find this weapon?"

"It is in the distant land known as Nosgoth." Maleficent said. "At the side of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. The vampire called Kain."

For some reason Ash could tell that this next place was his true destination. Not like the ones he had been following Maleficent to. Those ones felt just like watching T.V., while this one, felt real. He looked around to see that the sun had nearly set behind a distant town. As he approached it, he was able to see that the town was in ruins. The same could be said about the large castle that sat in the middle of the village. As he watched the sun set, he began to hear ominous moaning. Before his very eyes, he saw what appeared to be a plethora of demons and ghosts rise out of the ground and slowly make their way up the large mountain to the north of the town. As he watched them all rise, a decrepit sign came into view. The black paint was barely visible but it read, Bald Mountain.


	11. Night of the Living Ash

Chapter 11. Night of the Living Ash

Ash's eyes widened as he stared into the night and watched the countless number of specters float up toward the mountain. More and more of them were traveling, as if compelled by an unknown force. Upon reaching the peak of the mountain, they simply began to mindlessly encircle it. A few of them looked in Ash's direction as he walked toward the town, but seemed to pay him no more notice.

"I think it's a pretty safe assumption as to were my book is." Ash said as he paused for a moment and watched the twirling vortex of spirits. Below them, an array of demons marched up the mound as well. Ash quickly inspected his weapons and made sure everything was in check before he began to trudge toward the town. Even though the ghosts and ghouls were paying little mind to him, several skeletons were marching around town mindlessly. Ash opted to do his best to try to avoid them. He was carefully darting between the small amount of dead foliage that surrounded the area as he quietly made his way to the center of the town. It took him nearly an hour to make it down the muddy path he had chosen before he found himself in what appeared to be the town square. As he looked around at the decaying remains of the village, another ghost rose from the ground right between his feet. Ash jumped back a bit as the entity floated by as if he wasn't even there.

"I hate ghosts." The whole time Ash had been traveling, the ghosts had not slowed in rising from the ground. A steady stream of specters, demons and skeletons had been constantly returning from the grave and heading up to join the others.

"That's a lot of dead people." Ash's eyes rested upon the castle to his right that was on the other side of town. It was in terrible shape and looked as though it could fall at any minute. After disregarding his better judgment, Ash decided to investigate. He needed to get his book back, but decided that an army of ghosts might be to much for even him.

"Who knows?" he said to himself. "Maybe it's in there. Sitting on a table surrounded by Penthouse Models. Yeah, maybe I'm The Duchess of Canterbury." Ash made his way toward the decadent stone structure as silently as possible. He quickly dove into a run down cottage as a couple of skeletons clad in rusty, old armor limped past him.

"This is stupid." Ash said to himself as he exited out of the backdoor. "Well, I guess as long as no one sees the savior of the universe playing hide-and-seek, I don't need to worry." Once outside, Ash once again took refuge behind some severely decaying bushes. He slowly poked his head through the dry, black leaves to see a couple of skeletons guarding the heavy, yet rotten doors to the castle. Ash began to get ready to charge, before he had an idea. He reached into his shadow pocket and pulled out the Batarang that he found in front of Dracula's castle.

"Worth a shot." Ash said as he shrugged his shoulders. He quickly stood up and through the weapon as hard as he could. He missed and the metal bat struck the door behind the boney figures. Their heads snapped in his direction before they began to march Ash's way, swords drawn. Ash readied for battle before a huge "crack" echoed in his ears. The skeletons looked behind them and watched helplessly as the massive door crashed onto them, turning them to dust.

"Hmm. I meant to do that." Ash sifted through the splintered wood until he found the Batarang. "Yeah dude, I rock." He placed it back into his shadow pocket. Ash wandered into the courtyard and looked around at what used to be a blacksmith's shop. He looked inside and found what seemed to be car parts and a suit of armor that was missing a right hand.

"Why would there be car parts...? Ah, who cares." He then made his way to what appeared to be a well, but when he looked in, he saw the remains of humans strewn about the floor. On the right and left, the walls were covered in spikes were several more remains clung to the sharp steel.

"This place seems strangely familiar. Yep, it's official. I'm going insane." Ash's attention was then grabbed by the snapping sound of a whip. "Finally some action." Ash drew his sword and ran toward the sound. "I shouldn't run with this, but at least it's not a pair of scissors." He slowed his pace at the sound of a roar not unlike that of an animal. A big animal. "Bring it on." He neared the entrance to the castle when he saw a bare chested man in a black hood whipping a hulking mass that was chained to the ground. The torturer saw Ash making his way toward him and grabbed a huge axe with his free hand.

"Hey pal, I'm not into s&m and bondage." Ash swung his sword down only to have it blocked by the wooden handle of the heavy axe. The man then stood aside and kicked Ash in the back, knocking him to the ground. He came to rest in front of the being that was chained down. Ash looked up and was face to face with a huge set of teeth.

"Ash?" the teeth said. Without a word, Ash rolled away, stood up and blocked an axe attack with his sword and kicked him in the stomach. The man stumbled backward only to stand up strait and catch the Nightblade in the coils of his whip. With a quick tug, the blade fell to the ground well out of Ash's reach. Curiosity got the better of him at that moment, and Ash looked out of the corner of his eye at the thing that had said his name.

"Beast?" He said in surprise. He was right. This was the same creature that Ash had freed from Maleficent during their first encounter. He was then grabbed around his left wrist with the whip. A game of tug-o-war then commenced. Ash was being pulled inch by inch closer to the huge man with the black hood.

"I hope you're a dog person." Ash pulled his shotgun off of his back with his free hand, pointed it at Beast and fired. He looked down to see that the chains on his right wrist had been snapped by the slug. He then slashed at his other set and broke them with his claws. Even though he was wearing a hood, Ash could see the man's eyes widen as Beast lunged at him.

"Oh my." Ash said as he watched Beast savagely rip his torturer into bloody pieces. Beast stood up when he was done and looked at Ash, breathing heavily.

"I think you got him."

"Hello again Ash. I apologize for the ferocity, but I have been chained up for quite some time now."

"How long?"

"I was transported here almost immediately after you departed my world." Beast then turned around so Ash could see a sickening amount of whip wounds on his back. "As you can see, I have been wanting to do that for a long time."

"What is this place?"

"I'm afraid that you probably know more about this place than me. I was incarcerated as soon as I arrived."

"Well, we're not gonna find out standing around here. How bout we go into the castle."

"With pleasure." Ash placed his sword back into his belt and the two entered the castle. They carefully made their way into a huge room that appeared to be a dining hall with a huge stained glass window. The fancy oak furniture lay all around, broken and rotting. When they reached the center of the room, a slight breeze began to blow.

"I don't think this place is winterized." Ash said. "The propane bill must be murder." The breeze began to pick up speed. In a matter of seconds, the two of them were barely heavy enough to stay grounded. The wind then vortexed around them, sending everything in the huge room crashing into the stone walls. The room was completely still for a moment, before three clouds of mist floated into the room in front of the two. Beast and Ash watched as the mist slowly began to form into figures.

"This could be bad." Ash said when the figures took shape.

"Who are they?" Beast asked.

"A few guys that may have it in for me." The two were surrounded by what appeared to be the ghosts of Sauron, Dracula and Starscream.

"Were you the one that released these spirits?"

"If by release, you mean kill. Then, yes. But, technically I didn't kill you." he pointed at Starscream.

"We do not wish to engage you, our time is very short. We need you, Ash of the Cosmos, to destroy Maleficent."

"Ash of the Cosmos?" Beast said silently to Ash. A hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Never mind that. Why are three guys who should be after my head, telling me of what I already know."

"You do not understand." Sauron said. "With the universe in this state of dismay, the spirits of the recently deceased are compelled to this world by a long dormant evil that resides here, more heartless and vile than anything you have yet encountered"

"Our souls will never find peace, as long as we remain here." Dracula added. "This place is home to a fierce demon, and the more souls it is able to call forth, the more powerful it will become. It's strength will soon rival that of the rest of the remaining universe."

"What demon?" Ash said. "I've been all over this place and the closest thing I've seen to a huge, menacing demon is a bunch of cheese dick skeletons and three whining ghosts."

"It resides in the mountain." Starscream said as he pointed out the stained glass window at the peak that the spirits were circling. "It is gaining strength with every soul that it calls to the top."

"Maleficent has absorbed the power of the book," Dracula added. "The universe can only by restored with her destruction and you returned to your own world."

"Spare me the Uncle Tom lecture." Ash said. "I'll take down your damn demon here directly, and anyone else in the way. I owe that rotten bitch one anyway. Her and her little tin can Doom."

"It will not be that easy," Sauron added. "The demon is under the control of the book and the one that possesses it."

"Figures." Ash said. "Well, who has my book now?"

"We don't know." Starscream replied as the three ghosts began to dissipate and be pulled toward the mountain. "But you hold the key to all of our fates. Only you can undo what Maleficent has done."

"Well, at least there's no pressure."

"C'mon Ash." Beast said. "Don't worry. I'm here to help you."

"That's comforting. If little Timmy falls in a well, I'm sure you'll be the first to know." Ash took a step towards the exit. "Hold up."

"What is it?"

"Do you feel that too?" Beast paused for a moment.

"Yes. It felt like distant thunder." A slight crash was heard again, slightly louder.

"Not as distant as we'd like." The sound was increasing in intensity and frequency. "Move!" Ash pushed Beast out of the way just in time as the stone wall to their right exploded, pelting them both with rubble. Ash rolled onto his side and tried to see through the dust. He was eventually able to make out two figures, one was a hulking mass of a man while the other seemed to be only a shadow. As the dust settled, Ash was able to see that the man was donned in a hooded, black cloak and that his face was covered with a black mask that was adorned with four red slashes that ran down it diagonally.

"What do we do?" Beast asked.

"I've always found it best to improvise." Ash fired his gun into the shadow. The slug went right through and struck the wall. Both beings turned and looked at the hero. "Maybe improve is not my forte. Let's try slapstick." Ash drew his sword while Beast leapt at the cloaked figure. A sword slash seemed to hurt the shadow as it reeled back slightly. On the other side of the room, Beast had been grabbed around the throat and sent crashing through the huge stained glass window. The cloaked man then turned his full attention back to the shadow.

"Looks like we're on the same side." Ash said to him with no response. Beast crawled back in the window that he had been cast out of. He growled loudly at the masked man.

"Beast, you two can play around later. For now, let's take out this gay cloud." The three combatants slowly approached the menacing shadow. As they neared there target, the shadow began to sink into the thousands of shards of shattered glass. Within seconds, the pieces began to join together and rise from the floor.

"Well kiss my grits." Ash and the others looked up at a stained glass monster looming over them.

"My, my, my. Glass wasn't a very good choice there disco." Ash fired a slug at the fragile glass and blasted a huge hole in it's chest. In a matter of seconds, the glass floated back up into place and repaired the damage Ash had done.

"Any other ideas?" Beast asked. The two turned to their new ally and watched as he willed a ball of fire between his hands. He thrust his arms forward and the flames careened toward their adversary. The heat melted it's way through the glass that composed the giants left arm. It howled in pain as it swung with it's remaining arm, knocking Ash and Beast to the ground. It then turned and ran out the window and seemed to make it's way toward the mountain were all of the spirits were circling. Without a word, the man that had saved them both began to follow.

"Sorry about mistaking you for an enemy." Beast said to him. He only paused for a moment, before continuing on his way.

"Rude much?" Ash said. "Ah who needs him anyway? Just another mouth to feed." The two exited out the same way and started their own way up toward the summit. They didn't walk with the mysterious stranger, but they never lost sight of him. Neither Ash nor Beast would admit that they were slightly frightened of this new world, so they reasoned that they'd follow the only moderately friendly being that they had come across. He never slowed his pace or ever looked back, he just kept on moving as though he was looking for something. They began to exit the town toward the mountain and the countless ghosts that were circling the peak. Ash stopped in his tracks when he heard something to his right.

"It's coming from the graveyard." Beast said silently.

"My luck it'll be Frankenstein waltzing with the Wolf Man, or something." Ash added as he heard what sounded like sobbing. He sighed. "Alright, let's go." The two walked into the graveyard and the sobbing was heightened by the moaning and wailing of true sorrow.

"What? Did Granny kick the bucket?" As the two neared the sound, they noticed several bodies of demons and skeletons were beginning to litter the ground. They all had their lower mandibles ribbed from their heads. The two peeked from behind a large headstone and saw a man wearing a white, short sleeved button up shirt, a black tie, brown sweat pants and a leather mask that was open around the mouth and the back sitting cross-legged on the ground. Long, matted, unwashed hair hung out the back of the mask. The man turned at the two heroes.

"Mr. Socko." He said hysterically. "They killed Mr. Socko! I made them pay. They have to eat baby food from now on. Can't chew with only one set of teeth." He began to laugh as well as cry and he was making weird squealing sounds while he put the finishing touches on carving _Mr. Socko RIP _on the stone in front of him.

"Maybe we'd better go." Ash said.

"Don't go. You came to pay last respect to Mr. Socko. He appreciates that." He used his hands to pull some dirt toward him and make a very shallow hole in the ground. He then pulled what looked like a tube sock from his pants that had a crudely drawn face on it.

"Goodnight, sweet prince." He kissed the ragged, smelly sock into the grave and buried it. He stood up and faced Ash and Beast, both of whom had inquisitive looks on their face.

"He died fighting. It's how he wanted to go."

"Right." Ash said sarcastically.

"Who are you?" Beast asked.

"My friends call me Mankind. And by friends I mean Mr. Socko. But you can call me that, if you want."

"Well," Ash said. "It's been nice, but we'd better get going."

"Can I come?"

"I'm the only crazy asshole in this little herd. Sorry, clubhouse is full." When Ash finished speaking, Mankind leapt at him and pushed both him and Beast to the ground. They were both surprised at his strength and rolled to their sides and watched as he tore into four demons that had snuck up behind them. He was throwing a flurry of punches that struck with huge amounts of force. He them ripped up a large headstone from the ground and brought it down hard on the horned head of one of his adversaries. He then head butted another, knocking it to the ground as well. With two more remaining, he stuck his middle and ring fingers into their putrid mouths and grabbed on to their jaws. He quickly jerked back, ribbing their mandibles right from their heads. He was breathing heavy and his white shirt was covered in rancid smelling blood.

"Welcome aboard." Mankind jumped for joy as he still held the jaws in his hands. One of the demons began to move. He simply jumped into the air and came down on the creatures neck with an elbow, breaking it.

"We'd better get moving." Beast said.

"This is gonna be great!" Mankind said excitedly.

"Your work ethic is an inspiration to us all." Ash said sarcastically. As the three of them continued up the mountain. Before long, Mankind was getting bored. He began to gawk around at his surroundings and look under rocks.

"Hey, puppet pal." Ash yelled behind him as Mankind fell further and further behind. "Hurry up or we're gonna fight an invincible army of undead without you."

"Okay, just one more rock." Mankind lifted up one last rock and something black caught his eye. It appeared to be liquid but was able to move on it's own. He reached out with his hand and allowed the strange substance to crawl into his palm. He stood up right and ran toward the others.

"Look what I found."

"What is it?" Ash asked as he rolled his eyes and continued walking. "A dead bird, or better yet, a tall glass of shut the hell up."

"Ash." Beast said. "You might want to look at this."

"I'm trying to think how I'm gonna get my book from an entire freakin' mountain. What is so Goddamn im...port...ant?" Ash turned just in time to see Mankind's body become encased in the black substance. His mask, shirt and tie were still visible but the rest of him was dark blue and black. His teeth had become long and sharp while his eyes looked just like...

"Venom?" Ash silently said to himself.

"I hear something." Mankind's new voice stated. "Something talking to me in my mind."

"I bet it echoes pretty bad in there."

"This black stuff, is an alien. It wants to bond with me, be my friend. I like friends."

"You recognize that stuff Ash?"

"Yeah. I met someone who had the same ugly mug a while back."

"My new friend says that he was transported to this world, along with an enemy he was battling at the time."

"Much like I was." Beast said. "But, who is this enemy?"

"It was most likely some kind of killer clown from outer space. I hate clowns." Behind Ash, something was silently crawling toward him. Mankind took a breath to speak, but before he could, Ash was grabbed by several bloody tendrils and pulled to the ground. He dropped his weapons and was getting drug away. Beast and Mankind took chase, trying to free him from the grip.

"That's it." Mankind yelled as they ran. "That is what my friend was fighting."

"What is it?" Beast asked.

"It's an alien that is capable of assimilating any living creature and copying it exactly."

"Are we having a biology lesson or are we gonna save my ass?" Ash yelled as he craned his head up to look in the direction he was heading. "Holy shit! Hurry up!" Ash was being pulled into what looked like a huge Venus Flytrap that was made of blood dripping muscle and jagged bone. Ash was pulled inside and the trap closed. Mankind shot out a tendril that buried itself into the tissue of the alien and pulled himself rapidly toward it. He began to slash at it with his claws and bite down with his teeth. Beast then arrived and employed the same tactic. The two then thrust their fingers into the seam on the "mouth" and attempt to pull it apart. With considerable effort, they were successful, and Ash fell to the ground, covered in blood and slime. He was dragged to safety by his allies as the huge, grotesque mass began to shrink and take shape. The three watched as it took human form. It looked a lot like Ash, wearing the same clothes and black hair but its skin was still dripping with blood and was red and inflamed as though it had been freshly burned by fire.

"Hiya kids." It spoke. "In every set of twins, there is always a better looking one."

"Yeah right." Ash rebutted as he wiped slim from his face. "I bet a Xerox machine could make a better copy and I don't think they make one with a fairy setting."

"I rather like this form. It is better suited as a one of a kind." Bad Ash thrust his right arm out and it extended all the way to Ash and grabbed him around the throat with a clawed hand.

"I don't need to stretch any of my anatomy." Ash drew his Nightblade and slashed at the appendage, causing Bad Ash to loose his grip. "I'm naturally big." The arm slithered back to regular size before his mouth opened several times it's regular size. His teeth became longer, sharp and jagged as he roared at the three. He took a step toward the two, but was struck in the face by a ball of fire. Bad Ash reeled back a bit before taking another step and being struck yet again by fire. This time, his face returned to normal. The three turned around to see the masked stranger from earlier, small flames dancing in each of his upright palms.

"This isn't over. I'm am a part of you Ash. You are the key to the universe's redemption, while I am the source of it's destruction. Maleficent knows this. She sent me here for this one purpose. We will meet again shortly." Bad Ash turned and ran off into the shadows.

"Yeah," Ash said. "Tough talk for someone who has to pretend to be someone else. Pretending's for children and fat people."

"Aren't you worried about that...thing?" Beast asked.

"Nah, he looks the part, but there's only one Ash, baby." They all approached the source of the flame while Ash picked up his gun and saw.

"Who're you?" Mankind asked. There was no response.

"He is unable to speak." A voice said in the darkness. Every one watched as the stained glass monster from before emerged from the darkness, still missing his arm. "His name is Kane. I reveal this so it will be known what to scribe on his tombstone." Kane's eyes were burning with anger behind the mask as he forced a blast of fire in it's direction. The golem, held up it's remaining hand and blocked the blaze. "Not this time, brother."

"Brother?" Beast inquired.

"I bet Christmas is a riot." Ash added.

"I like presents." Mankind said cheerfully. Ash looked at him.

"Are you retarded?" Ash once again fired a shot at the glass with the same result. Beast leapt toward it and slashed with his claws, cutting deep gouges in the colored glass. Mankind followed with a blunt tendril attack to the chest. Ash then ran in close and slashed with both his saw and sword. Kane stood back and watched, knowing full well that these attacks were useless. The glass monster simply let out a concussive blast the shattered it's body. Shards of glass would have easily killed them had Mankind not have created a shield with his symbiotic suit. He lowered the barrier and the three watched as the dark shadow began to take shape. It became a black skinned demon with large talons and a tail.

"Now, you will know the wrath of Blackheart." Kane let loose another volley of fire. Blackheart became intangible and the flames went right through him. The four of them regrouped.

"Due to Maleficent's carelessness, she has provided me with the means to become more powerful then her. The universe shall belong to me." The Necronomicon manifested itself in his clawed hand. "With this, the demon that resides within Bald Mountain shall awaken from it's eons on slumber.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." Ash argued. "I've heard this tune a thousand times before there, Purple heart. You don't seem to know who your dealing with. I am Ash fo the Cosmos."

"How quaint. A self appointed title. I will make sure that it is etched on your tombstone." Mankind leaned over to Ash.

"I think that means he doesn't know who you are."

"Ya' think." The exchange of words was broken by Kane jumping at his brother and knocking the book from his hand. The two then began trading blows. The other three could feel the shockwaves from the massive strikes. Ash fired a round into Blackheart's spin without a result. Beast and Mankind then sprung in to help Kane. The demonic creature was getting scorched by fire and torn into by teeth and claws. Kane's fist lit up in flame and he began to pummel his brother in the face. Ash leapt into the air with chainsaw buzzing, but was caught in the abdomen by Blackheart tree trunk-like tail. He crashed through an old headstone. He stood up and rubbed his head.

"They don't make 'em like they used to." Just then he spotted the Necronomicon in a pile of leaves. Blackheart saw him making his way toward it.

"Enough!" A huge wave of energy erupted from his body, that sent everyone to the ground. The earth started to shake as Blackheart rose to his feet.

"An army of the dead shall be your undoing." Ash watched as coffins began to fly from the ground and shatter on impact. Decaying corpses with clouded white eyes began to rise to their feet. Ash tried to crawl to the book until his leg was grabbed by a legless body. It pulled him closer and opened it's mouth.

"Suck on this stumpy." He fired a slug into it's mouth, blood, skull and rotten brains sprayed Ash in the face. "I think I'll skip lunch." He once again moved toward the book. He was a few feet from it when a pair of skeletal hands grabbed him around the head. Ash was pulled into the ground to accompany his capture in it's shallow grave. Above, Ash's allies were barely holding back the armada of decaying corpses. Several of them were set ablaze, courtesy of Kane. Others were torn to ribbons while some ley on the ground, their lower jaws no longer attached to their heads. Blackheart walked over to the book and forced it to levitate into his hand.

"See you on the mountain. In one way or another." Blackheart once again took his shadow form and drifted to the base of the mountain.

"Were is Ash?" Beast yelled as he tore a deadite in half.

"How are me and my friend supposed to know?" Mankind replied while tearing another jaw off and punching the deadite in the face. It fell backwards toward Kane who them exploded it's head with a fire blast. Just then, a skull was sent flying from the ground and Ash clawed his way out of the grave.

"This party's kind of dead." He picked up his gun and blasted several deadites away before dropping his weapon and wielding both his saw and Nightblade, severing heads from bodies and cleaving others in twine. Between the four of them, they cleared the graveyard of deadites in moments.

"Smells like bacon." Mankind said referring to the charred corpses that littered the ground. Ash crushed a skull beneath his boot.

"Now that we're done stomping this yard," A deadite rose up behind him in mid sentence. Ash turned around and kicked it in the nuts before slicing off it's head. "My favorite, a double header. Let's roll bitches." Ash led the team up to the mountain. As they walked, the ghosts that had been circling the peak all night began to swiftly disappear into the rock. Within seconds, they were all assimilated by the peak. They stopped in their tracks as the mountain began to move. Eyes widened when a huge pair of bat like wings rose up and the monster's head came into view. It reached it's arms up in the air and the ground quaked, causing the four to stagger for a moment.

"It's his turn to get rocked." Ash took off in a sprint. The other followed closely behind. They were nearing the monster, when they were blind sided by Blackheart's shadow. He took his form and made his way toward the four. Kane stood and pointed at Ash.

"Y...ou...go. I ssst...ay." Kane turned toward his brother and once again, the two began to exchange blows.

"We have to help him." Beast said. Kane and Blackheart were both showing signs of severe damage.

"He can handle himself. We have bigger fish to fry." The demon looked down at the three charging at him.

"Mankind." Ash said. "Get me up there."

"Contact." Mankind shot out a tendril that wrapped around Ash's waist. He was spun in a full circle once and tossed through the air, sword drawn. The Deadly Nightblade hit it's mark and pierced the right eye of the monster. Ash released his hold of the blade and began to fall. Beast leapt up and caught him and sunk his claws into the black, scaly skin of the demon to slow their descent.

"You had me at hello." Ash said as the two landed, him in Beast arms. Ash was dropped to the ground.

"What's a girl gotta do," Ash drew a bead on the monster with his shotgun. "To get a little attention around here." He fired several slugs that seemed to do a small amount of damage.

"This is for Mr. Socko." Mankind attached his arm to one of the demon's horns and swung up past his neck, carving a huge gash. Mankind was then caught by a huge hand and bathed in a black flame. He and his symbiote screamed in pain before they were dropped to the ground, separated. Mankind was out cold and the symbiote was barely moving. Beast was next slapped to the ground and pinned by a hand. Ash looked around him. Kane and Blackheart were trying to kill each other, Mankind was knocked unconscious and Beast was being held immobile. Ash let out a sigh.

"Don't mind me, just saving the world by myself." He loaded his shotgun when he felt something poking at his leg. He looked down to see the symbiote reaching into his shadow pocket.

"Hey, you need to buy me a couple of drinks before you can get in my pants." The symbiote pulled out the twisted bottle that was full of the green liquid from Halloween Town. It forced itself inside and soaked up the fluid.

"Oh great. A freakin' booger just drank the rest of my voodoo juice." The symbiote then began to glow bright green with renewed energy. It reached out and grabbed Ash.

"Gross." It slithered all over his body and face.

"Hold on." Ash said. The alien removed itself from his face to reveal that his teeth had become sharp and his eyes glowed green. "That's better. Covering my face is like vandalizing a national treasure." Ash then leapt at the demon and slashed away with a energized symbiote. The mountain monster attempted in vain to black the attacks, only to be maimed even worse. Beast was released from the weight of it's hand and watched in awe. Ash then sliced open the monster's throat and climbed in. Both of it's hands covered the wound before it looked down at it's chest. Ash burst through it's heart and ribcage. It wailed in agony before it slumped down, dead. Ash landed on the ground in front of Beast. He turned around and shot up a tendril that grabbed his sword from the eye of the dead behemoth.

"I apologize for the savagery." The symbiote, with just a slight hint of green left in it, removed itself from Ash and returned to Mankind. The last of the green used to restore him to consciousness.

"My head hurts."

"I'm surprised you have a brain to damage."

"I have had enough of your meddling." The three turned to see Blackheart, visibly hurt and no Kane in sight. "You may have thwarted my plans, but that will not stop me from making all of you permanent denizens of this world." He took one step, before being struck in the back of the head with a ball of fire. He turned to see his brother, also barely standing.

"Let's end this." The two charged at each other. Blackheart with fists of black flames and Kane, who was engulfing his entire body in flame as he ran. When the two collided, the resulting blast blew every one to the ground. A huge crater left were the two had met.

"He's gone." Beast said.

"It's probably how he wanted to go." Ash said. "Exploding." The book was lying, smoking in the middle of the crater.

"The sun is coming up." Mankind said. Everyone looked and saw the ghosts and demons reemerge from the dead body of the demon and slowly make their way back to the town, sinking back into the ground from which they came.

"Well guys." Ash said as he shoved the empty crystal bottle back into his pocket while walking into the crater toward his book. Mankind and Beast stood on the ridge. "As much as I like ghosts and ghouls, It's high time I hit the old dusty trail." He picked it up and was carried off yet again.

"Are you the one known as Kain?" Ash recognized the being as Cooler even though he was a considerable distance away..

"I am. I care not who you are, but know that this blasphemous act will be your last."

"I come for the Soul Reaver." Kain drew the sword from his back.

"That which you seek will become your undoing." Cooler soared at the ancient vampire. The impact of his fist with the Soul Reaver erupted in an explosion that seemed adequate enough to destroy a small planet.

Ash was instantly transported away. He was now in a land that was erupting in lava, in the shadow of a huge volcano.

"Glad I stored away my winter jacket." He turned at the sound of footsteps. "Maleficent." She was standing with Doom, Bad Ash and a tall, humanoid, silver robot with a canon on his right forearm.

"The mighty Megatron." Maleficent said. "Thank you for joining us."

"Don't patronize me witch. You know full well that I was transported here from Cybertron and am unable to leave."

"My apologies. Doom, please inform Megatron of this, unique opportunity." Like before, Doom approached and opened his palm. An image of a small golden ring was projected.

"This is known as the One Ring of Power. It was forged in the fires of this very land."

"What does it do?"

"It gives you the power to control an army, the likes of which, the universe has never seen."

"Intriguing. Were can I find this artifact?" Doom removed the image from his palm and pointed at the volcano.

"There. In the bowels of the flaming mountain."

"Get out of my way." Megatron moved past the three and headed toward the mountain.

"Our plan is almost complete." Maleficent said. "With my army, Ash's counterpart and help in covering the universe in darkness, soon I will become invincible."

"Speaking of Ash," Bad Ash said. "When do I get to assimilate him."

"Shortly, and I do hope you make him suffer."

"That will be my pleasure."

"Maleficent." Doom said. "Should the others see through your plot."

"Never." She laughed slightly. "Apocalypse, Thanos, Cooler and Megatron will not discover that since I have absorbed the power of the book, I become increasingly powerful as the universe dies. When that happens, neither the power of a god, Unicron, an ancient vampire blade nor a ring will not be able to stop me."

Ash made the mistake of blinking his eyes and he found himself in a different place in an instant. He looked around.

"No way." A huge sign was in front of him. It read _S-Mart All Your Needs Store Dearborn, Michigan._ "I'm home." He was so excited that he forgot to look down to his hand, when he did, he saw the Necronomicon.

"Who cares about the bitch witch. Ash is back and on the prowl. I wonder if good 'ol S-Mart has hired any hot chicks...or moderate chicks...or fat chicks. I don't care." He ran into the store shouting. "Line 'em up people. Ash is back." Not even a cricket was heard. "Were is everyone? Oh well. Might as well do some shopping." He grabbed a cart, tossed in the book and began to throw shotgun shells, chainsaw gas and lots of alcohol into it. He also made use of his shadow pocket. He stuck a whole wrecking bar into it as he rounded a corner. His eyes widened at a display.

"The Tree Eater 3000! Top of the line chainsaw with a chain that can cut steel?! I'm in heaven. I've already modified mine to fit, I'll just replace the chain. This is so sweet." When he finished his task, he made his way toward the exit with his haul. He made a quick stop and emptied all the cash registers into his shadow pocket and stuffed in two snickers bars before leaving. Outside, he tested his new chain by sawing through the engine of a parked car.

"I'm a real cut up." Ash stuffed all of his shells into his pocket, refueled his saw and pushed his cart of beer downtown. He cracked one open and continued walking.

"It's good to be home. Even if I am the only one here." He then heard a loud noise as if hundreds of jets were flying low overhead. He was in the middle of the street surrounded by tall buildings and was unable to see the source of the noise. After hiding his cart of beer and the Necronomicon behind a dumpster, he entered an office building and climbed the stairs to the top carrying his gun, saw, sword and a six-pack.

"When I get to the top, I'm throwing up. I've earned it." He faunally reached the top of the tall building. He looked around in horror. Those tall robots that Maleficent had referred to as Sentinels were landing all over the town. When they touched down, they began smashing everything in sight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked off into the distance. After peering around for a few seconds, his eyes rested upon Maleficent, Doom and Bad Ash on a far away building. Even at this considerable distance, he could still hear her shrill voice.

"Find him. Find him and the book. They both must be destroyed." Ash put the binoculars back into his pocket. He felt something round and smooth. Removing his hand, he saw the Summon Stone that King Mickey had given him. The green gem was glowing brightly. He didn't remember it glowing.


	12. Army of Ash

Chapter 12. Army of Ash

Logan, also known as the mutant Wolverine, sat on the couch inside the X-Mansion, working on his eighth beer of the afternoon and flipping through the channels on the TV.

"What's a guy gotta do for a little excitement around here?" He set his half full bottle of Rainier on the table next to the sofa and put his feet on the coffee table. Absolutely nothing had happened since he helped out that strange Ash character up in Canada. Since he made it back, he spend several hours in the Danger Room and substitute teaching some of the younger students at the school. Logan sighed and grabbed the newspaper. He opened it and began to read. After a few moments, he reached for his beer.

"What the Hell is that?" The remaining liquid in the bottle had begun to glow bright green.

"Are we there yet? This is the most boring expedition ever." Daxter was dragging his feet behind Jak. The two were wandering in the forest on the outskirts of Haven City.

"C'mon Dax, Samos needs more green eco to finish repairing the warp gate."

"Why can't ol' loghead get his own green crap. Besides, it's kareokee night downtown. You know how much I love to sing." Jak rolled his eyes.

"Just a few more and we'll head back, okay."

"Ah, this bites." Daxter kicked a small piece of green eco and it rolled over and hit a tree. It started to glow very bright. "Oh, no you don't." He said to himself. "Every time something starts glowing, I almost get eaten." He tried to cover it up with some leaves before Jak caught him.

"What are you doing?" Daxter stood in front of the pile, trying to hide it with his body.

"Uh, nothing of importance. I'm definitely not hiding anything that may or may not be ominously shining." Jak moved away the leaves.

"The television is not functioning properly." Starfire was sitting cross-legged on the floor, impatiently pushing the buttons on the remote. Raven was hovering on the other side of the room, meditating.

"The batteries are probably dead." She said, with irritation in her voice. "Just get up and use the buttons on the TV." Starfire got up and touched the power button. She turned to Raven.

"What do you wish to view?"

"I'm busy." Starfire turned back to the screen.

"Raven. You might want to look at this." The screen had flickered to life and was bathing the room in a bright green light.

Jack Sparrow woke up to the pounding of his head.

"I'm never drinking rum again." He sat up and saw that he was sharing a bed with two attractive barmaids from the night before. "Ah, now I remember." He pulled the cork out of the top of a bottle and took a swig of rum. "I love breakfast." He quietly got out of bed and put on his clothes. After a little searching, he found his effects. "That's not mine." He said as he removed a stocking that hat landed on his hat. He did a quick check to ensure all of his belongings were in order. As he began to leave, something caught his eye. A large, black gem hanging from a necklace on one of the girls. He skillfully removed it.

"Thanks love." He exited the room and made his way outside. The bright sunlight hurting his eyes. When they finally adjusted, he took another gulp of rum and accidently dropped his stolen gem. He looked down.

"Now that's interesting." The once dark colored gem was now shining bright green.

Jack Skellington sat at his desk with his head in his hands, crumpled up pieces of paper all over the floor at his feet.

"I just can't keep my mind on Halloween. It's almost here and I have no new ideas." He looked out the window at the clock in the town square.

"There's only 324 days left. I have to find something that will scare everyone out of their wits." Jack felt it hard to concentrate. His adventure with Ash had filled him with the thirst for adventure. His position as Pumpkin King was boring compared to a savior of the universe. He sat back down.

"I was a hero once. I guess that's more than most can say." He sighed and glanced over to a large jar that contained his Soul Robber. His eyes widened when he saw his symbiotic weapon glowing brightly, a green light emanating from within.

The pitch black darkness was broken by a faint green light. The shadows inside of Sir Daniel Fortesque's coffin were gradually being driven away by the shimmering green. Fortesque did not stir from his slumber. The light continued to grow in intensity. Sir Dan started to move slightly, as if being annoyed while trying to sleep. He right eye finally reemerged in his empty socket. It widened in shock when he saw all of the light invading his sarcophagus

"We've been flying around in space for days without even the smallest idea to were Maleficent has gone."

"I know Donald, but we've got to try to stop her." Goofy entered the cockpit of the gummi ship, stretching his arms.

"Any one want me to take over. That little rest did wonders."

"No thanks." Sora replied, yawning a little. "I'm alright."

"Well I'm not." Donald got up, obviously aggravated at the lack of results their search has yielded. "I'm going to bed." King Mickey didn't reply. He had his nose buried in the computer screen, studying the readings that the ship was taking from nearby planets, searching for clues.

"Hey guys." Goofy said as he pointed out the window. "What do you suppose that is." Everyone looked out the front of the ship and saw a beacon of green light shining up at them from a small, uninhabited planet.

"Ash," Mickey said to himself. "Sora. Take us down there."

"Pass me some more of that lizard." Legolas stabbed a tiny lizard that was cooking on the fire with a sai. Raphael grabbed it from him. "I gotta hand it to ya. You elves sure know your way around a campfire."

"With the right touch, most anything can be made edible."

"Even turtle?" Regina said from across the fire.

"Watch it toots. You don't wanna eat me. Turtle meat is a little too tough."

"Oh lighten up Raph. I was just kidding." She took another bite of her charred reptile. "How long do you guys think we'll be stuck in the Savage Land?"

"Ash said that he was the one with the power to return everything to normal." Legolas replied as he threw another lizard on the fire.

"I think that bozo was just blowin' hot air." Raphael was picking his teeth with a sai.

"He seemed genuine enough." Regina added. "I think he'll get us out of here."

"Yeah, keep dreamin' there, Reg. We are permanent denizens of this place. We should start selling real estate. I bet dinosaurs would be a hot attraction." Regina laughed slightly and looked at her weapons. She had managed to save most of her ammunition, just in case. They had been pretty successful hunting with Lagolas's arrows. The three of them had finished eating and were about ready to settle in for the night. They had all grown accustomed to the sound of the surrounding jungle. Regina awoke, as she always did, after only half an hour of sleep. Raph and snoring loudly, as he always did. She rolled over and looked at the glowing embers of the near extinguished fire. She stood up suddenly.

"Hey guys." The glow of the embers turned from red to bright green.

"There it is." Van Helsing spotted a small vampire hiding behind a bell tower high above the church.

"Allow us." Venom jumped up and clung to the outer wall of the building and began to climb.

"I bet you a drink you can't beat him there."

"You're on." Batman shot out his grappling hook and swung his way up to the top of the tower. He was the first to reach the summit, with Venom only seconds behind.

"We hate when you do that." The two cornered the cowering vampire. Several of the little vermin managed to escape Van Helsing's light bomb back in Dracula's castle. The three of them had been spending their nights hunting them. Venom looked at Batman.

"Let us, please. We're hungry."

"Be my guest." Venom grabbed the small creature and placed it in his mouth. A couple chomps and a big swallow spelled the end of the little beast. The two made their way to the ground.

"Look's like I owe you a beer." The three of them headed for the local pub.

"Great idea. Our mouth always does get dry after a meal." As they neared the pub, their attention was captured when the various lanterns that surrounded the street began to glow bright green.

"We've been scanning all day. There's no more." Juggernaut was growing very impatient. Staring at computers was driving him insane.

"We have to ensure that no more aliens remain on Cybertron. That can only be done by keeping close tabs on the motion sensors." Prime said toward the pacing behemoth.

"Yeah that was fun, smashing and crashing, for the first few days. We got 'em all. That's why it's so boring around here."

"Oh shut up." Earthworm Jim said. "You haven't stopped complaining since we all got here."

"Don't you tell me what to do. You have no idea how easy it would be to crush you."

"Bring it on."

"That's enough, you two." Selene said. "Kurt do you see anything?"

"Nope, nothing. I'm beginning to agree with Juggernaut on this one."

"Finally. Someone is listening to me."

"You may be correct." Prime agreed. "But we have to be positive that all of the beasts Starscream brought to the planet have been exterminated and I am not yet satisfied." Juggy sat in the corner and crossed his arms. He and Prime had butted heads on several more occasions and Juggernaut chose to keep quite this time. He sat silently for a moment, the only sounds in the room was being made by the computers.

"That's it. I'm going outside." He stormed out the door.

"Should we stop him?" Hectic asked Prime.

"No. Let him blow off some steam."

"I'll go keep an eye on him." Jim exited the door.

"Something better happen soon." Selene said before taking a drink of the dark red liquid that sat in a glass next to her. "Blood is so much better directly from the vein." Juggernaut, Jim and Hectic had each been taking turns in donating blood to the vampire. Outside, Jim had caught up with Juggernaut.

"I can't hardly stand all this downtime. I have to smash something before I go crazy."

"It's hard for all of us. Ash will come through."

"Yeah, yeah. That's what everyone keeps saying. I think he was full of crap." Juggernaut picked up a small piece of energon that he found by his feet. As he looked at it, the shinny blue energy cube had changed to a bright green. "Hey, worm. What do you suppose this is?"

"I don't know. We'd better show it to Optimus."

"I miss him more and more every day." Mankind's symbiote flowed off of his face as he was laying some dead flowers on the grave of his sock puppet. "Mr. Socko could always make me laugh." Beast stood away from the still mourning Mankind, knowing full well that crying over a sock puppet was unhealthy. He watched as the sun began to sink behind the body of the demon in the mountain. Mankind stood up and walked toward him, his symbiote covering his face again.

"I wonder were Ash is now." Beast said to no one in particular.

"Who knows." Mankind caught something moving. He took off after it. Beast followed. They approached what appeared to be a ghost.

"We haven't seen and apparition since Ash left." The two were shocked when they realized that they recognized it.

"Kane!?" They each said at the same time. The ghost looked at them and just stared.

"You're alive." Mankind said. "Sort of." The ghost looked down at his hands, seemingly not believing he was a specter. The ghost then made his way over to a headstone that bore his name.

"We buried what little we found." Beast said.

"The service was lovely." Mankind added as Kane looked at his own grave. A bright green light then pierced ground were Kane had been buried and stuck the apparition in the chest. Kane fell to his knees. Mankind and Beast watched in disbelief as Kane began to take on a physical form again. The fire wielding man rose back up to his feet, whole again.

"Hooray!" Mankind yelled. "Kane's back." Beast approached the grave.

"What kind of magic was that." Kane once again fell to his knees and began to dig. After a few handfuls of dirt, the three were bathed in a bright green light.

Ash watched as the green light on the summon stone slowly faded. He shook it a few times and even put the stone up to his ear.

"Awesome. Mickey gave me a toy with bad batteries." Ash was about to throw it over the edge of the tall building that he was standing on, when a flash of green light shone behind him and his hair was blown forward. Ash turned around and couldn't believe his eyes. Everyone he had aligned himself with in his travels was now standing in front of him.

"How ya doin, kid?" Logan said when he saw Ash, who was still showing a puzzled expression upon his face. King Mickey stepped forward and looked around.

"Looks like you've been doing quite a bit of traveling."

"Everyone I've met is here. This turns the odds a little more in my favor. Kane. You're alive." Ash walked up to Blackheart's brother who was standing next to Fortesque. "And you." He patted the skeleton on the shoulder, producing a cloud of dust as he did so. "You're still dead, but you look good." Fortesque crossed his arms and looked away.

"Ash! I've missed you." Mankind couldn't control his emotions anymore and ran forward. He gave Ash a big hug.

"I told you he'd get us out of that place." Regina stated as she nudged Raphael with her elbow.

"Yeah, you sure told me." He replied half sarcastically as Ash tried to remove Mankind from him.

"Down boy. Get back before people get the wrong idea."

"It appears that we have a bit of a mountain to climb." Prime said in reference to the army of Sentinels that were ransacking the city.

"Finally, some stuff to smash." Juggy added excitedly.

"That's right. Now listen up. The odds are against us at least 50 to 1. Not only do we have a scary beyond all reason battle ahead of us against an army of giant robots, or, "Sentinels"," Ash threw up some "air quotes". "But we are also facing a cheap copy of myself, a C3PO wannabe and some magic wielding hussy who has huffed to much paint in her day."

"What is he talking about?" Daxter whispered into Jak's ear from his perch on his shoulder.

"I don't have a clue." Ash continued his speech.

"Now I'm not one for long, drawn out speeches. So I'll make this short. Gentlemen," He turned to Selene and winked. "And ladies. We'll give 'em a fight they won't forget. Win or lose, let's run through 'em like shit through a goose."

"We're with you." Sora yelled, raising his keyblde in the air. Goofy and Donald raised their weapons as well.

"How do you suggest we approach said army?" Jack Skellington inquired.

"You got me there. I usually just wing it. Beast. How's your arm?"

"More than adequate." Beast walked up to Ash.

"Make it a fastball." Ash started his chainsaw and checked to make sure his gun and sword were secure.

"Not without me you're not." Logan walked up to Ash.

"The more the merrier. Hectic, you and Legolas stay here and do what you can."

"With pleasure." Hectic strapped his chaingun to his face and took a knee.

"I'll bend my bow to your will." The elf pulled out an arrow and readied it on his bow.

"May I stay here too?" Sparrow asked.

"No. Fire at will." Beast grabbed Logan and Ash by their belts and tossed them into the onslaught of Sentinels. Hectic zoomed in with his sniper rifle and blasted the right eye out of a hulking bot while Legolas hit it in the other eye with an arrow. The first casualty fell to the ground in a heap. Logan and Ash soared over the toppled Sentinel. Ash forced his saw forward and thrust it into the side of another Sentinel's head. Logan landed on another one's chest and tore it open, ripping out it's power cell. Maleficent witnessed three of her soldiers crash to the ground and stared in disbelief at everyone that had joined Ash in the fight.

"Get them. Make them all suffer." The rest of Ash's army joined the clash of epic proportions. Venom used his weblines to swing while Mankind used his symbiote as ropes. The two landed on a Sentinel and began tearing away.

"Let's see if your "other" can keep up with us."

"Me and my friend will rupture and break and lacerate twice as fast as you." The two human beings with symbiotic aliens were clearly enjoying themselves. Optimus Prime leapt into the air, blasting downward as he descended. Skellington snapped his Soul Robber and hitched a ride on Prime's leg.

"Thanks for the lift." He released his hold and wrapped his green weapon around a Sentinels throat. It's grip tightened until the battle droid's head was pinched off. When Optimus landed he transformed and his truck form tripped up several of the machines. He reverted back to robot form and used the momentum to slide on his back. As sparks flew, Prime blasted upwards at one as he skidded past it. The Sentinel split down the middle and fell apart.

"We have to win this. The fate of the universe depends on it." King Mickey was ricocheting from robot to robot, slashing like mad with his key blade.

"Hold on to your panties." Juggernaut grabbed Earthworm Jim and a reluctant Jack Sparrow.

"Are you a worm?" Sparrow inquired.

"Big whoop, wanna fight about it?"

"No. I just hope there aren't any fish around." The three headed toward the middle of the action, Jim blasting the whole way down. When they landed, Jim continued firing up at the towering machines while Juggy began to rip legs out from under them and pummel them when they hit the ground.

"Perhaps I can be of use elsewhere." Jack did his best not to get squashed as he made his way between the hulking metal legs. Daxter caught a ride on Starfire's shoulder as she and Raven flew into action.

"Hope you girls are gonna watch, 'cause, this is the dumbest thing I've ever done." Dax leapt off and scurried inside of one of the machines as Raven was using her powers to pick up cars, chunks of concrete and even parts of Sentinels to as weapons.

"These things aren't so tough."

"I sure hope these don't fall on anyone." Starfire was working in tandem with Batman, Daniel Fortesque and Raphael, flying at high speeds and using her strength and Starbolts to topple the machines so the three could spring in and finish them off. Beast carried Sora, Donald and Goofy as he sprinted, weaving between the robots.

"Now!" He grabbed Sora a threw him up at one. Sora held his blade out in front and crashed through a metal skull.

"I guess it's my turn." Goofy swallowed nervously. Beast then threw him and, with his shield in front, plowed through another's chest.

"Let's see how they handle electricity." Donald remained on Beast's shoulder, casting a spell and striking the androids with bolts of lightning. Beast then left the ground and took one's head off with a powerful swing of his claws. Regina stood next to Van Helsing on the roof, bullets and silver stakes finding their mark.

"You're a good shot." Helsing said as he let loose one of his razor discs that tore through a power cell.

"You're not so bad yourself." Regina rendered another one blind that Kane jumped up and grabbed on below the neck before melting a hole through it's robotic brain. "You're gonna have to show me how to use one of those things.

"Time for some Dark Eco." Dark Jak grabbed Selene and gave her a toss, her high-heeled boot finding it's way through a steel forehead. Dark Jak than started to tear into whatever metal monsters he could find. Selene then stuck her hands into the hole she had made and tore it's head in half.

"That's why I love ya' babe." Ash had just finished decapitating another Sentinel before he watched what Selene had done. She leapt off the falling robot and landed in front of him. Without a word, she kissed him in the middle of the battle.

"Hey," Raph yelled. "There ain't no time for that, lover boy." The turtle then thrust the tips of his sais into a metal leg and began to climb.

"Go get her Ash." Selene said when she broke the kiss. She then pulled out her pistols and began firing. Raphael had made his way to the back of a Sentinel's neck were he began to cut every exposed wire he could find.

"She could suck more than my blood." Batman tackled Ash to the ground and a Sentinels energy blast just missed him.

"Are you gonna kiss me too?"

"No." The Dark Night shot up his grappling hook and tossed his end to Donald. Who had left his post on Beast shoulder to continue his assault. He sent lightning up the cable, frying the machines wires. A different Sentinel fell, Raphael riding it down the whole way. Back on the roof, A Sentinel made his way to were Hectic, Legolas, Regina and Helsing were picking them off with their projectiles. It smashed it's fist onto the roof which prompted the elf to jump aboard and run up to it's head. As he ran, he shot two arrows, one hit each eye. Another Sentinel opened it's palm and was preparing to blast the blonde haired elf as he made his way toward the other's head. Hectic removed his sniper rifle and placed it back in his hand, producing his chain gun. He fired a barrage of ammo into the robot's face until it exploded. Legolas jumped off the face of his combat droid and back flipped back toward the roof. As he did, he threw his knife deep into the skull of their attacker. The Sentinel began to fall.

"That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen." Kurt said when Legolas landed back on the roof. Only a few feet away, Regina and Van Helsing found a healthy course of action. Van was throwing his razor discs that he had loaded with gun powder, burying the blades in the bodies of the robots. Regina would then, fire a bullet at the disc, thus exploding it, causing vast amounts of damage.

"It looks like Ash is putting up more of a fight than you expected." Bad Ash said to Maleficent.

"I do have other weapons in my arsenal." She glanced at Doom.

"I have been waiting for this." Doom walked to the edge of the rooftop and began blasting at the heroes. Beast was struck by the energy and fell to the ground. Mankind was hit next, pieces of metal still in his hands as he too fell. Starfire witness Doom's actions.

"That's not fair." She flew as fast as she could at the villain, plowing through every robot in her way. Doom saw her coming and fired a blast at her. Sir Daniel Fortesque waved her down as the heroine dodged the blast. She flew down and picked him up. Dan held his golden shield out in front, deflecting the rest of Doom's blast's. When they neared, Dan was released and he trust his blade through the stomach of Bad Ash when he landed. He looked down at the weapon protruding from his gullet.

"Right in the belly button." Fortesque's eye widened before he was punched in the skull. He staggered backwards, pulling out the blade. Starfire was clashing with Doom on the other side of the roof. Each combatant had their fists encased in energy and they were trading blows.

"It's not nice to take cheap shots."

"No one ever accused me of playing fair." Doom was then hit in the face by a Starbolt that sent him sliding backwards. When he stopped, he fired back, striking Starfire with his own attack.

"No bag of bones is gonna make a fool of me." Bad Ash was slashing at Fortesque's shield with elongated arms that were now adorned with huge claws.

"Pathetic heroes." Maleficent pointed her staff at Fortesque and Starfire.

"Uh, uh lady." Juggernaut and Dark Jak land right behind her. "That ain't nice." The two punched down at the witch, both of them connecting with her face. She barely moved.

"How is that possible?" Jak asked. Ash looked up as a huge amount of magic was expelled. He then watched as Starfire, Fortesque, Juggernaut and Jak, back in normal form, were thrown from the roof and crashed into the pavement. A Sentinel, swinging it's arms erratically, made it's way to the three villains on the roof.

"Look out below." Daxter had rewired the machine and was controlling it from the top it's head. He made the robot fire it's blasters at them, but he missed. Ash could here Dax scream as he held on for dear life when Doom blasted the machines head clean from it's body. He then surveyed all around him.

"We've hardly made a dent in their numbers." He saw Kane melt yet another Sentinels head, only to be rendered unconscious by a different one's blast. Raphael was then blasted as well. Only surviving because of his shell, but still rendered immobile. Raven was using her powers to tear the robots to pieces and use them as weapons until she was snuck up on and shot from behind. She fell lifelessly to the ground. He swivelled his head to see Goofy dive in front of Sora, shielding him form a beam. He also fell. Sora threw his keyblade through a power cell before he himself was rendered unconscious by another blast. Rage overtook Donald as he watched Sora fall. He willed all of his remaining power into his staff and pointed it up in the air. Within seconds, basketball size meteors began to rain down from the heavens, dismantling at least a dozen Sentinels before he too, was subdued.

"Destroy the four on the roof." Maleficent ordered as she and Doom fired at the other occupied building. It collapsed with Hectic, Legolas, Regina and Helsing still on top.

"It's hopeless." Ash's shoulders slumped. Earthworm Jim was blasting in all directions before he was subdued as well. Selene ran in to try to rescue Jim from his fate. She made it to him but was surrounded. Two Sentinels opened their palms and aimed at her.

"Don't worry. We're here." Venom swung hard with his shoulder into the forearm of a Sentinel ready to fire. It's arm was moved toward a fellow robot and the blaster went off, knocking two of them to the ground. Venom landed next to Selene, who was holding Jim. The earthworm fired a round of his Plasma Gun into another robot before passing out. Selene and Venom were then completely surrounded. Ash met her eyes with his.

"Keep fighting." She said. "Keep fighting." The three were then hit by several consecutive beams.

"Ash," Logan said as he clawed his way toward the hero. "Don't just stand there. Help us out." He and Batman dodged a fist as it slammed to the ground.

"It's useless." Ash replied. Batman made his way to him before he punched him in the face.

"It's only over when you let it." Logan then made it to Ash. He punched him in the other side of the face.

"You wanna be a puss? Go ahead, but we're gonna keep going."

"Okay, I get it. Stop hitting me. But what'll we do."

"We will keep fighting until we fall, or she does." Mickey said as he Skellington and Prime battled their way toward them. Optimus blew another Sentinel away as he spoke.

"You are not alone, Ash. We are with you til the end." Skellington extended his Soul Robber through another one's chest.

"Til the end."

"Thanks guys. I needed that. I don't know what I was thinking. You're right. As long as there is a single dollop of frosting on the oh so delicious chocolate cake of righteousness, it is worth picking up a fork and taking a bite."

"I think he lost it." Logan said to Mickey. "It don't matter. I'm talking to a freakin' mouse." Maleficent looked down at the six remaining heroes.

"Sentinels." She yelled at her army. "Stand down. We will handle the rest of these worthless curs." The remaining robots stood upright and ceased all movement. The witch used her magic to fly herself, Doom and Bad Ash down in front of the last of Ash's army. Maleficent spoke to Ash.

"Do you think yourself foolish enough that six of you are going to stop me."

"Probably not." Ash said as he pulled out his shot gun. "But for some reason, today, I feel just stupid enough to try." He fired a shot that hit Doom in the chest. Logan jumped in and slashed at Bad Ash, cutting three deep cuts in his alien flesh. Logan was then clutched around the throat by one of his hands. Mickey leapt in and swung his keyblade, releasing the hold. The Soul Robber wrapped itself around Doom's wrist and Prime shot the steel clad villain in the face with his blaster. Doom staggered back and, with his face plate smoking, fired a bolt of energy at the AutoBot, causing him to slide backwards, cutting deep trenches in the asphalt with his feet. Bad Ash extended his spine covered arm and hit Skellington in the face. Batman dodged blasts from Doom and swung as he ran past Bad Ash. The blades on his gauntlet slicing the alien before he kicked Doom in the chest with both his feet. At that same instant, Logan stabbed Doom through his armor and into his side. Batman was grabbed by the leg and swung him into the mutant. Prime roared back in his truck form and crashed into Doom, pinning him against a concrete wall. Skellington and Mickey were engaging Bad Ash only to be hit by Prime as he was tossed backward by Doom. The two villains were seemingly getting the upper hand on Ash's allies.

"I admire your reserve." Maleficent said to Ash as she pointed her staff at him. "But, the time has come, to die."

"Pardon me love." Jack Sparrow had snuck up behind Maleficent and quickly picked her magic staff from her grasp. He threw it to Ash just before he was hit in the chest by a bolt of magic. Sparrow flew backwards into a brick wall and was rendered unconscious. Maleficent turned to Ash as he pointed her own staff at her.

"I don't know how to use this." Ash somehow willed the weapon to work and blasted Maleficent. When she was struck, a black shadow entombed her and she disappeared. Ash hit Bad Ash as well. He vanished into thin air. Ash, Batman, Logan, Mickey, Jack Skellington and Optimus Prime gathered around Doom.

"Give it up, rivet face. We've won."

"Perhaps for now." Doom willed yellow energy to his fists and struck the ground. The release threw everyone back and Ash dropped the staff. Doom picked it up and slashed it upward, creating a black opening.

"We will meet again, Ash. This, I promise." Doom broke the plane of the portal and was gone. The six heroes rose back to their feet.

"Is it over?" Skellington asked cautiously.

"It appears so." Prime replied. Wolverine walked up and slapped Ash on the back.

"Ya did good kid."

"Not bad." Batman added.

"I wouldn't be so sure fellas." Mickey said. They all turned and were shocked by what they saw. Maleficent was standing in the middle of the battle field, unscathed.

"Did you truly believe that I would be that easy to vanquish? I am the power of the Necronomicon. I am invincible." She held her arms high in the air and a black and purple smoke began to swirl around her.

"This can't be good." Ash said. Lightning began to flash out of the spinning vortex, striking the remaining Sentinels, disabling them. To everyone's amazement, Maleficent began to change shape as well as grow bigger. In a matter of seconds, she had transformed into a thirty foot tall dragon with black skin and piercing yellow eyes. She opened her mouth and a blistering barrage of green flame produced a wall of fire that tossed everyone back like rag dolls. All but Ash. He pulled out his sword.

"Go ahead and fry me, you over grown horny toad. I'm starting to hear the fat lady singing." Maleficent erupted an even bigger flame from her open mouth. Ash held out the Deadly Nightblade in front of him, the Kingdom Chain was diverting her magical fire like water around a stone. Ash was beginning to be forced backwards by the force of the blaze. He used all his strength to force the blade forward, sending to fire back. The dragon's head snapped back when she was struck.

"Special delivery." Ash threw his blade as hard as he could. The dragon's eyes widened as the blade pierced her tough hide and struck her in the heart. Ash watched as she began to wither and die in front of him. The hero walked up to find his sword sticking through Maleficent's cloak and into the ground. Ash pulled it out of the ground and stuck it back in his belt. He then spit on the torn, black cloak.

"Black's not my color." He looked around to see that everyone of his allies were slowly getting back up to their feet. Aside from some bumps and bruises, everyone was alive. They all crowded around.

"Troops," Ash said as he walked toward a liquor store that had miraculously survived the onslaught. "This calls for a celebration." He punched through the large glass window with his robot hand and grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan from the display. "Drink up." He tossed the bottle of rum to Sparrow.

"Now, this was worth the trip." The pirate tipped it back and swallowed a big gulp. Ash then began grabbing bottles of all shapes and sizes, dispersing them among the crowd. Logan happily began to pound an entire bottle of Vodka before making his way to the back of the store. He reemerged with two cases of Rainier bottles.

"Lighten up, Mr. Serious." Ash said as he threw a bottle at Batman, who caught it without effort.

"I suppose you're right." The Dark Night took a big drink of Jack Daniels. When he finished, he even pulled his mask back.

"That's the spirit. Once we all make it home, no one will be able to point out that mug anyway." The victory party lasted through the night and into the next morning, everyone exchanging stories of heroism and valor. All kinds of tales were told. From the war on Cybertron to rescuing Santa Clause to saving the entire world from an alien known as Gunter Glunt. Jim even revealed how he became a worm capable of toting a gun. Fortesque tried to tell one of his adventures, but quickly gave up when no one was able to understand him. Everyone was grateful that the threat of Maleficent had been halted. No one even seemed to care that nobody had any idea as to how everyone would get back home. Ash had simply stated, with a somewhat slurred voice,

"Everything will work itself out." Just as the sun was starting to rise, Selene grabbed Ash by the front of his shirt and pulled him away from the crowd.

"Hey look, a furniture store." He said as she lead him inside. "Need help picking out a new mattress?" Selene pushed him onto one of the display beds.

"Let's try this one."

Ash opened his eyes. He was in a very soft bed and covered in what he thought were heavy blankets. When he raised his head, he realized that he had several women lying on him while they slept. A huge grin slowly manifested itself on his face. Ash made his way through the tangle of young bodies and got out of bed. He put on his pants and boots before he looked out the window. He was in a mansion. Out in the huge front yard stood a huge statue of himself, saw on his arm, shotgun over his shoulder and sword in his belt. His weapons were in glass cases in the huge hallway, as was the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. A man in a suit with long coattails walked up to him and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Master Ash."

"Why thank you old bean." Ash continued to walk around his new home before sitting in a gigantic chair in front of a theater sized television. One of the girls from his room entered and snuggled up next to him in his chair. He took a sip of the best coffee he'd ever had and flicked on the T.V.

"It's good to be king." A strange image then came into view. It was one of a blonde haired woman, the left side of her face had decayed away to the skull.

"What is this, PBS? I don't remember Mr. Rogers being a girl, or half of his face melted off. "

"Ash," She said to him. "The universe is still in upheaval. You must set it right." Ash turned off the T. V.

"Public television just isn't what he used to be." The girl that was sitting next to him tilted her head up. She looked just like the image on the screen. Ash jumped up and the girl floated into the air.

"The balance of the universe must be restored." Ash thought for a moment.

"Can I get another hour with the foxes in my bed." She just stared at him. "30 minutes." Again no answer. "Five?" After a short pause, Ash slumped his shoulders and sighed. "Let me get dressed."

To Be Continued


End file.
